The Fine Print

With all the brouhaha about the nuclear deal between USA and India, yours truly got interested in getting down to the fine print. And as is usually the case with fine print, it threw up some pretty interesting stuff. Sample this:

Published in January 2006, the Henry J. Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006, popularly known as the Hyde Act, says...

It is the sense of Congress that— ...
(12) any commerce in civil nuclear energy with India by the United States and other countries must be achieved in a manner that minimizes the risk of nuclear proliferation or regional arms races and maximizes India’s adherence to international nonproliferation regimes, including, in particular, the guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG);

Perfect. Further down the twenty-eight page document, it also says in its Statements of Policy in Section 103 that (among other things) the following should be a policy of the US...

Given the special sensitivity of equipment and technologies related to the enrichment of uranium, the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, and the production of heavy water, work with members of the NSG, individually and collectively, to further restrict the transfers of such equipment and technologies, including to India.

Makes it crystal clear, doesn't it, that USA wants to further restrict transfer of sensitive equipment and technologies to India? And then, we have a media note released in August 2007 that publishes the text of the Agreement for Cooperation between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of India concerning peaceful uses of nuclear energy (123 Agreement). Here's what it has to say:

The Government of India and the Government of the United States of America, hereinafter referred to as the Parties,
Have agreed on the following: ...
1. The Parties shall cooperate in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement. ...
2. The purpose of the Agreement being to enable full civil nuclear energy cooperation between the Parties, the Parties may pursue cooperation in all relevant areas to include, but not limited to, the following: ...
g. Supply between the Parties, whether for use by or for the benefit of the Parties or third countries, of nuclear material; ...
i. Supply between the Parties of equipment, whether for use by or for the benefit of the Parties or third countries;

Quite a change of heart or what?! Are the underlined parts in the above documents really that contradictory, or is it just me who's unable to grasp the meaning - or intentions - of the (Super)powers that be?!! If you are interested in knowing more about this topic, click here. Hopefully you too would become interested in the fine print! AbNQ