Indo US Nuclear Deal – Domestic Implications; Hurry up Congress

Indo US Nuclear Deal – Domestic Implications; Hurry up Congress

The India-US civil nuclear deal is finally close to completion with the US Senate giving a resounding 86-13 approval to the historic agreement. The deal was already passed by the House of Representative last week with a decisive margin. This brings a technical end to the process that had started on 18th July 2005, when The Indian prime minister and U.S. President announced an agreement opening up new avenues for bilateral activities and commerce in space, civil nuclear energy, and dual-use technology.

The deal also 123 agreement has been a subject to constant scrutiny by analysts, all out criticism by deal opponents and open praise by supporters. Probably the first time in the history of Independent India a government decision with regard to the foreign policy has been discussed and debated so much inside country (Panchsheel agreement can be an exception). It is not that before 123 agreement foreign policies were not debated and discussed but it always remained in the ambit of intellectuals, bureaucrats, government officials, political parties and over and above this, the debate and discussion on such policies hardly ever crossed the boundaries of big cities in India. Thanks to hyper active Indian media, electronic in particular, political parties specifically CPI and CPM and growing awareness of Indian middle class that the issue was debated on village tea stalls, small gatherings in towns, cabs of IT and non- IT companies in big cities apart from the usual places of discussion. Once my cab driver asked me “sir ye nuclear deal ka kya chakkar hai, ye government sahi nahi kar rahi hai lagta hai”! He was reading the news related to nuclear deal in a local Kannada news paper. I don’t say everyone has done that but certainly, and we don’t need statistics for that, there are many who have followed and discussed this. The most important part is that they are the genuine stakeholders who will be affected in the end.

I am not discussing the merit or demerit of this agreement, the point I am trying to make is, this deal will have long lasting and strategic impact not only on the International politics and India’s foreign policy but also the way these issues are understood and considered in the context of Indian democracy and vote bank politics where majority is still incapable of understanding even very basic implications of this deal.

The regional press and electronic media have given ample space and time to this issue to get it noticed by India’s more than one billion population. This issue is certainly not as big as higher inflation, terrorism and religious fundamentalism when considered as a parameter on the basis of which these people are going to vote in the coming election but will certainly act as a strong catalyst in deciding the final outcome. The reason for this is not the fact that this deal is very important and it has far reaching implications on India and Indian nationals, but the sheer form in which it has reached the masses. The way it has been presented and construed by the majority is completely different from what it originally stands for.

This can be a perfect example of, if analyzed properly by some able analysts, hazard of unregulated proliferation of mass media. As a result of uninformed commentators, news reporters, specifically related to these so called news channels, so called writers -ever ready to comment on everything, have spoiled the very spirit this India- US civil nuclear deal should have been analyzed in. It has been distorted and misrepresented in such a way that it has become an issue of jingoist vs anti nationals, capitalist vs communist, US vs Iran and much more something like these. Muslims (not all) are in opposition because the other party in the deal is the US and the US is considered anti Islam. Some Hindus are in favor of deal because Muslims are in opposition. Once a person told me that this deal was being signed because Sonia Gandhi was not an Indian! A section is supporting the deal because this will make India a superpower and one is opposing it because this will be the breach of trust with Iran. Brajesh Mishra, former national security adviser to Vajpayee government said to Karan Thapar in an interview that the deal was very good and probably the best that India could have got, however opposition would find faults because they were in opposition! This idea of supporting or opposing the deal on irrelevant points has taken precedence over the real issues that should have been noticed and discerned by the general public.

This has made the issue even more complicated and enigmatic for all the political parties. The main challenge for the parties is who manages the regional media better as these are the sources that influence the large voting population rather than the newspapers like The Hindu and The Indian Express. The deal has its support from urban middle class, which reflects and is getting reflected in the general reports on almost all news channels and in the newspapers, except few like The Hindu. Even criticism or skepticism for the deal has some positive and supporting flavor in English media. But as I said earlier power lies in the hand of regional press as they will have maximum impact. There is no clear trend emerging out of regional and local press but there is very little time is left for all the parties if they want to take any advantage out of this deal. The congress party is going to project it as a major achievement in the next general election but their poor hold on local press especially in North India can cost them dearly. They must learn from last BJP government whose euphoria over Forex Reserve did reach to rural India but their lack of experience in managing local media made that forex boon into bane for the party.

If Congress has to take any mileage out of this they should immediately pay attention to local and regional media where its oppositions have already made significant impact. In the end this deal is the best that India, considering its current position in the world, could have bargained for.