A victory for Indian imperialism and the Indo-US imperialist alliance

On September 6, 2008, the representatives of the 45 member countries of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) approved a document through which they declared they had no problems with carrying out civilian nuclear trade with India.

This allows India and individual member countries of this group to trade in nuclear power plants, nuclear fuel, enrichment technology, as well as sensitive advanced technological innovations that could have a dual purpose — both for civilian use and for use in the development of nuclear weapons.

With this development, the decades old isolation of India regarding trade in these sensitive technologies and materials has been ended. India can now buy nuclear fuel for those plants which it has declared before the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be solely used for civilian purposes for generating nuclear energy. It can keep its weapons program alive, by diverting all its scarce internal nuclear fuel resources to those plants which are outside the safeguards agreement with the IAEA. After the IAEA agreement earlier this year in July, the NSA decision reconfirms that the official nuclear weapons states (US, Russia, China, Britain and France), which have thus far refused to admit anyone else into their ranks, now officially recognize India as a nuclear weapons state.

The NSG approval is an official declaration of what development of events have already underlined, that the major imperialist powers of the world recognise India as a rising imperialist power with its own ambitions, whom they are more or less eager to engage with. This decision of the NSG is an official acknowledgement that the world is not what it was during the cold war. Not only is US the dominant imperialist power in the world today, which dictates to the other countries, including its rivals; not only is China its major challenger in the coming decades. It is being recognised that Indian imperialism has emerged as a world player seeking “its rightful place” in the new world order, just like other imperialists.

US imperialism used its full weight to pressurize all countries in the NSG to recognise the new situation. The US showed that it wants the civilian nuclear deal with India at all costs; most importantly it showed that it is desperate to forge the strategic imperialist alliance with the Indian bourgeoisie, of which this deal is a component part.

The Indian bourgeoisie revealed its imperialist arrogance during the prolonged negotiations. It showed disdain towards the smaller countries that had reservations. It left the task of twisting the arms of recalcitrant countries to its ally, the US. It succeeded.

Some smaller countries showed they were wary of an imperialist India and its ambitions. They were however not able to oppose the US. China, which believes that the Indo US alliance is directed against itself, made rumblings of dissent, before succumbing to pressure from the US. Russia and France, major suppliers of nuclear technology, both of whom have traditionally had strong alliances with India, are eager to profit from the lifting of the nuclear embargo.

The Indian bourgeoisie is elated at its victory at the NSG. It is natural that the whole corporate world in our country, the entire corporate media, is jumping up with joy at the NSG developments. However, this is nothing for the working masses of India to be happy about.

The imperialist appetite of the Indian bourgeoisie has been whetted. Like all imperialists, its thirst is insatiable. It will demand more and more. At this time, the US imperialists are pleased that they will benefit from an imperialist alliance with India. They think they will make profits from the loot and plunder of India. They think that India will dovetail its strategic interests with their own interests for global domination. Time will tell what happens.

The Indian bourgeoisie will pursue the path that it feels will lead it to become a world class imperialist power. At one time, it struck a strategic alliance with Soviet Union. Now it has struck a strategic alliance with the US. What the Indian bourgeoisie will do tomorrow depends on what suits its own imperialist interests. The whole world knows this. That is why, the peoples of the world, and the smaller countries, are not overjoyed by the current world developments related to India. 

The imperialist agenda of the Indian bourgeoisie, its strategic alliance with the bloodthirsty US imperialism, are not in the interests of the workers and peasants of our country.

The Indian bourgeoisie has become big by sucking the blood and sweat of our people through liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. This course is going to intensify, as its appetite is whetted. It is now going to intensify the plunder of our country, both by itself, and by its imperialist allies using its control over state power. To serve itself, and its alliance with the US, it could very well embroil our people in imperialist wars against other peoples, causing great disasters for our people, and others.

No imperialist power has ever been peaceful, or contributed to the well-being of the people or peace and security. Indian imperialism is no exception.