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The debate over the propriety of the Government taking the nuclear deal forward is bound to simmer, at least until the present Government wins a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha. But that should not obscure from us an altogether different dimension to this issue. India is finding itself pushed to a corner in its efforts to ensure energy security for a population that is beginning to taste the fruits of burgeoning prosperity. For all the talk about harnessing the hydel potential or commitment to focusing on renewable sources, the harsh reality is this: India is increasingly beginning to look like a one-trick pony in its attempts to secure energy supplies for economic growth, with policy-makers having to rely on coal-based thermal power plants to augment capacity. There are natural limits to such a policy.

Good quality coal is proving harder to find, and such coal as there is involves long transportation leads if one is not to rely entirely on pit-head stations. Coal imports of the order India might require are going to be no easier. Operational constraints apart, it would be strategic folly to depend excessively on a single source in the overall power generation mix. The future may well throw up some disruptive technology that makes solar or wind power economically attractive. Unfortunately, planning compulsions are such that decisions have to be made with available technologies rather than in the hope that new technologies will somehow pan out for the good. Nuclear power is therefore being touted as the only credible supplement to coal-fired electricity generation.

Yet over the past decade, the indigenous nuclear programme using locally available sources of uranium has not made any serious dent, nor is it likely to do so in the foreseeable future. The non-proliferation agenda of the West has made sure that India stays uranium-starved, with the former providing both material and moral support, through covert and not so covert means, to local groups agitating against new mining projects. The monopoly of the nuclear big five or their resolve to impose a regime of technology apartheid on those such as India that refuse to recognise it may be morally repugnant, but merely cavilling at the injustice of such a world order will get India nowhere. A confluence of global events has conspired to provide India with a window of opportunity in ending this nuclear apartheid. The offer of international co-operation orchestrated by the US in nuclear power generation has to be seen in this context. It would be naïve to assume that the deal is without any risks in the strategic sphere or devoid of constraints on India to pursue an independent foreign policy. Equally, there is no reason to doubt India’s ability to manage such challenges successfully.

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The nuclear option

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