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A Debate to Remember emphasizes the multifaceted debate in India over the nuclear deal using concepts from science and technology studies. It focuses on the intense contestation over the civil-military mix of India's separation plan, the competition between the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline and the nuclear deal, the role of retired nuclear scientists, and the issue of liability that has stalled the full implementation of the nuclear deal.
List of contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- Preface
- Introduction
- List of Abbreviations
- 1. How the Deal Was Born: A Collection of Birth Stories
- 2. Nuclear Partition: The Debate over India's Nuclear Separation Plan and the Fast Breeder Reactor
- 3. Pipeline versus Reactors: The Iran-Pakistan-India Pipeline and the US-India Nuclear Deal
- 4. The Eight Horsemen: Indian Nuclear Scientists and India's Thermonuclear Capability
- 5. Nuclear Politics: How the Left Front Was Outmanoeuvred
- 6. US-India Nuclear Relations Post 2008: The Issue of Liability
- Conclusion
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author
About the author
Chaitanya Ravi is an adjunct professor in environmental science and policy as well as biology at George Mason University, USA.
Summary
The US-India nuclear deal, popularly known as the 123 Agreement, announced by George W. Bush and Manmohan Singh on 18 July 2005, was a defining moment in the relationship of the two countries, as also India's relationship with the non-proliferation regime. The Bush administration's implied recognition of India's nuclear weapons, and its abrupt reversal of three decades of sanctions to restore Indian access to nuclear fuel, reactors, and dual-use technologies despite being a non-proliferation treaty non-signatory, led to contentious debates in both India and the USA.
A Debate to Remember emphasizes the multifaceted debate in India over the nuclear deal using concepts from science and technology studies. It focuses on the intense contestation over the civil-military mix of India's separation plan, the competition between the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline and the nuclear deal, the role of retired nuclear scientists, and the issue of liability that has stalled the full implementation of the nuclear deal. The impact of domestic factors on issues ranging from the civil-military status of breeder reactors to the Indian insistence on no restriction on future nuclear testing in the 123 Agreement is also revealed in this book.
Additional text
'This is a serious examination of a seminal event not only in the history of US–India bilateral relations but also in the wider nuclear non-proliferation policy landscape. It covers a wide ranging set of issues with clarity and succeeds in providing important insights into the technical as well as political aspects of the debate on the US–India civil nuclear pact.'
- Harsh V. Pant, Professor of International Relations, King’s College London, UK
