January 1-15, 2007

Another step in the warmongering, imperialist US-India strategic alliance

US President George Bush has signed the Hyde Act which was passed by both houses of the US legislature to enable the US administration to pursue the deal on nuclear energy cooperation which was unveiled by Bush and Manmohan Singh in July 2005. The Hyde Act explicitly includes provisions to determine what nuclear technology and fuel can be sold to India and under what conditions. It clearly limits the usage of this technology and fuel, bars the use of the spent fuel, and calls for the US President to report annually to the US legislature on whether India is sticking to the provisions of the Act or not. In case India is seen to be violating the provisions of this Act, India would be compelled to return all the fuel and technology it acquires from the US.

Now India and the US will have to complete negotiations on the 123 Act which is necessary before technology and fuel can be transferred. The terms of the 123 Act will have to be consistent with the Hyde Act, and will need ratification by the US legislature before it comes into effect. India will also have to negotiate with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group to get their ratification for the nuclear plans of India.

It is clear that with this deal on nuclear cooperation, the US is seeking to bind India ever more closely with its own strategic aims. Various sections of public and expert opinion have pointed out that such a deal would give the United States unprecedented leverage over India's military decision-making, as well as its foreign policy. The Hyde Act among other things demands that India support the US in preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. It demands that India should assis the US in promoting its plank of “non-proliferation” worldwide. The Indian state had for decades taken the stand that it would not abide by a non-proliferation regime in which only a few privileged states would have the right to possess nuclear weapons. It had held out the goal of universal disarmament, pending which it recognised the right of every state to acquire and possess nuclear weapons. However, with the carrot of special nuclear cooperation, and recognition as a nuclear weapons state, being dangled in front of it by the US, the Indian government has now for all practical purposes abandoned this stand.

The US-India strategic alliance, of which the nuclear energy deal represents one part, is completely against the interests of the people of India and of the world. In its drive to establish its domination over the whole world, the US imperialists want to harness the resources of India, its vast market, manpower, sizeable military establishment, and technical-scientific potential, as well as its clout in the region and the world. Their eagerness to achieve this is seen in the unusual cooperation of both rival parties in the US political establishment in pushing through the Hyde Act. While signing the Act, US President Bush praised India for being an important and reliable ally in their “war against terrorism”. The Hyde Act itself describes India's foreign policy as being “congruent to that of the US”.

The ruling Indian bourgeoisie is just as eager to benefit from a “special relationship” with the US, in order to pursue its own big power ambitions, even at the cost of India's sovereignty in key areas of policy, and at the cost of antagonising or potentially antagonising various other countries. The Manmohan Singh government has been guilty of shameless lying while playing down the dangers to the Indian people from the developing equation with the US. It is guilty of painting rosy visions about how India's energy needs would be met through this deal, in order to drum up support for it in India.

The Indian people should not be in any doubt that the strategic alliance with the US, far from being something beneficial, is nothing other than an imperialist, warmongering alliance for the redivision of the world. It puts the interests of our people in the greatest jeopardy. The record of the US imperialists speaks for itself. They have laid waste Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries, and have no hesitation to strike at the independence and sovereignty of any people when it comes to securing their own rapacious interests. To link our country closely with such a power is an act of the greatest treachery. Moreover, it is intolerable that a deal with such grave implications for the Indian people is sought to be imposed on the country without informed public discussion, and without even requiring the approval of the Parliament. The people of India, with the working class at the head, must demand a halt to and rollback of the developing strategic equation with the US. The details of the deals and negotiations conducted so far must not be cloaked in secrecy under the guise of “national security”, but must be open to full public scrutiny and debate.