Indo-US Nuclear Deal: Seeking Synergy in Bilateralism

This book interrogates the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement from its inception in July 2005 to its conclusion in the latter part of 2008 through 12 articles, each of which focuses on different aspects of the deal. They discuss the factors that facilitated the deal, the roadblocks that were encountered, and the implications of the deal for the future of India’s foreign policy, its energy security and the international non-proliferation regime. Together, they address the internal political dynamics in India and the United States in order to present perspectives of both countries.

The book also highlights the technical paradigm of the nuclear deal: implications of the deal for India’s military and energy programs, and a legal scrutiny of the 123 Agreement. Further, it attempts to analyse the rationale for the unrelenting domestic and international opposition which the deal faced, examining . whether the objections raised from different groups at various stages to the Indo-US nuclear deal were substantive or motivated. Finally, the book provides an overview of the Indo-US nuclear deal and posits it within the larger framework of Indo-US relations.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, political science, international law, peace and security studies, South Asian studies and military studies.

P R Chari is a former member of the Indian Administrative Service (1960 batch / Madhya Pradesh cadre). He has been the Director of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and Research Professor at the Centre for Policy Research, and is currently Research Professor at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS), New Delhi. He has served in several senior positions in the Central and State Governments, including the Ministry of Defence, where he was Additional Secretary. He has also been International Fellow, Centre for International Affairs, Harvard University (1983-84) and Visiting Fellow, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (1998). He has worked extensively on nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and Indian defence issues. He has published over 1300 op-ed articles in newspapers/websites and over 140 monographs and major papers in learned journal/chapters in books abroad and in India. His recent books include Four Crises and a Peace Process: American Engagement in South Asia (co-authored with Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema and Stephen P. Cohen), Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2007; Armed Conflicts in South Asia (co-edited), Routledge, 2008; and Making Borders Irrelevant in Kashmir (co-authored with Hasan Askari Rizvi), United States Institute of Peace, 2008.