1. Media & Indo-US Nuclear Deal

2. “Rarely in the history of independent India has
any issue of foreign policy attracted as much
attention, called for such investment of political
and intellectual energies, and divided the polity as
fractiously as the Indo-US civilian nuclear
cooperation agreement did between 2005 and
2008.”
http://samaj.revues.org/index2913.html

3. What's the Big Deal?
• The US Congress on October 1, 2008 gave final
approval to an agreement facilitating nuclear
cooperation between the United States and
India
• The deal is seen as a watershed in U.S.-India
relations and introduces a new aspect to
international nonproliferation efforts

4. • First introduced in the joint statement
released by President Bush and Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh on July 18, 2005,
the deal lifts a three-decade U.S. moratorium
on nuclear trade with India
• It provides US assistance to India's civilian
nuclear energy program, and expands U.S.-
India cooperation in energy and satellite
technology

5. Criticism in the US
• But critics in the United States say the deal
fundamentally reverses half a century of US
nonproliferation efforts
• It also undermines attempts to prevent states
like Iran and North Korea from acquiring
nuclear weapons
• And furthermore, potentially contributes to a
nuclear arms race in Asia

6. Otherwise …
• There is unanimous support of the Indo-US
nuclear deal by almost all sections of the media
• It seems there is a campaign in Indian media that
if the deal is not pushed, Indo-US relation going
to suffer
• US media spinning euphoric reports about the
deal
• These reports might be manipulated by US govt.

7. Chinese Opposition
• On September 1, 2008, there was a
commentary in the ruling Chinese
Communist Party's official paper People’s
Daily
• It expressed its strong disapproval of the
civilian agreement with India
• This was a rare public response from Beijing
on the controversial U.S. proposal to lift a
ban on nuclear trade with India

8. Matter of Confidence
• On July 22, 2008, India’s government led by
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh narrowly
survived a no-confidence vote, the first such
vote in Indian politics in the last decade
• India’s government came close to collapse
because it had approved a deal with the
United states

9. Give & Take
• The US agreed to share nuclear technology
and fuel with India (breaking a longtime
international blockade against India by the
Nuclear Suppliers Group [NSG])
• It was in exchange for granting the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
limited rights of inspection of India’s nuclear
facilities

10. The “Unique” angle …
• The US-India Nuclear deal crated a unique
exception to the non-proliferation treaty (NPT)
for India
• The US then aggressively lobbied its partner
nations in the nuclear suppliers group to
extend their own NPT exceptions to India

11. Beyond the Usual
While the debate played out prominently in
the US and (especially) Indian media, Prime
Minister Singh soon realized that the deal had
taken on even broader dimensions than had
originally been envisaged

12. Reported in ToI: 08-26-2010
“Nuclear liability bill to bring
in more investment: US
media”

13. Favouritism?
Certain media reports have alleged that key
officials say that the reorganization was
politically motivated and will weaken US
efforts to address global weapons dangers

14. • Allegations of media presenting only half-
truths
• Media in West Bengal gave more coverage to
the deal
• Major sections of reading public interested in
the communist parties’ take on the deal

15. • Nuclear energy is at the current time, a
contributor to the extent of less than 5
percent to India’s total electricity needs
• Must accept the probability that nuclear
weapons are likely to remain forever
• It seems to be a consensus within Indian
media today that strategic engagement with
the US holds the key to India’s emergence on
the world stage as a major power

16. • Has the nuclear energy deal been made into a
prestige issue by Indian media?
• Does “nuclear energy” sound synonymous
with “technological prowess”?
• Has the nuclear deal became a symbol of a
new relationship between India and the “sole
superpower”?

17. On August 12, 2007, the Indian Express ran a
front page story by its editor-in-chief, which
was a virtual declaration of war against the
Left, with a headline that read:
“Will the bully now do what bullies
usually do when their bluff is
called?”

18. Proposition says …
Proponents of the agreement argue it will
bring India closer to the United States at
a time when the two countries are
forging a strategic relationship to pursue
common interests in fighting terrorism,
spreading democracy, and preventing the
domination of Asia by a single power

19. Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)
Unclear …
• In August 2008, representatives of 45 nations
met in Vienna
• Meeting was to decide whether to lift a ban
on nuclear trade with India
• They ended their talks inconclusively
• It left the future of a deal between the United
States and India uncertain

20. • Diplomats said the representatives, members
of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, planned to
meet again on Sept. 4
• The group must agree to allow nuclear fuel
and technology exports to India to help seal
the 2005 United States-India accord

21. • Media coverage of the deal has minimized since 2008
• Given the technical issues involved, the many steps that the agreement
had to go through, and the diverse interpretations it was subjected to,
made a coherent coverage of the deal not an easy task
• Information from official sources was also not easy to come by
• This often led to speculation that might have done more harm than good
in specific instances
• Lessons must be drawn from this for the future since the media will
remain an important player in national security and its strengths must be
intelligently exploited in the interest of the nation

22. References
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.-
India_Civil_Nuclear_Agreement
• http://samaj.revues.org/index2913.html
• http://sukumar-
md.blogspot.com/2008/03/on-media-
coverage-of-india-us-nuclear.html
• http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080823/jsp/
nation/story_9732602.jsp

23. References ... Cont.
• http://www.armscontrol.org/interviews/2006051
8_Joseph
• http://www.cfr.org/india/us-india-nuclear-
deal/p96
• http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=
9901E5D61F30F930A1575BC0A96E9C8B63&scp=
4&sq=nuclear+deal+india+us+&st=nyt 63
• http://www.ipcs.org/pdf_file/issue/SR74-
CBRNRep-BookDiscussion.pdf

24. Thank You
Saurabh Deshpande