The Hindu Business Line : Economic fallout of abandoning nuke deal will be 'significant'

WASHINGTON: Terming opponents of the Indo-US nuclear deal as being unable to 'grasp the magnitude' of policy change Washington was making for India, a leading expert on South Asia has said in order to end New Delhi's "nuclear pariah status", it could not avoid the "relatively modest conditions embodied in the agreement with the US".

Ms Teresita Schaffer, who heads the South Asia programme of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, also warned that if the deal is not approved this year, new governments in both countries will be 'very cautious' about picking up the agreeme nt, and the economic fallout of failure to follow through on the pact will be 'significant' for India in the long term.

"Political India did not really seem to grasp the magnitude of the legal and policy changes the US was prepared to make on India's behalf," Ms Schaffer said in the latest issue of the South Asia Monitor.

She said opponents of the deal defined success in a way that made a "remarkably favourable" agreement look bad, adding "the nuclear deal has turned out to be a rather uncomfortable means for Indians and Americans to learn about each other's democratic sy stems".

Americans underestimated the emotive power of accusations that the US was trying to dictate India's broader foreign policy, she said.

"But if the nuclear deal cannot be revived soon, its freezing will be a serious setback".

Ms Schaffer said the 'most troublesome' question is whether India is ready to sustain the rough-and-tumble of participation in global politics as a major power, adding its inability to follow through on an undertaking of this magnitude will affect its 'r eputation'. - PTI

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