Nuke deal at risk of being shelved
Obama and Hillary voted for the nuclear deal when they were senators.
By Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN |
WASHINGTON: The Obama administration on Monday named hardline nonproliferation warrior Robert Einhorn as the US state department���s special adviser for non-proliferation and arms control amid disquiet in business circles on whether the choice, along with other picks for key posts, will push the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal into cold storage.
Secretary of state Hillary Clinton announced her choice of Einhorn, a former assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation during the administration of her husband Bill Clinton , as her adviser, saying he and his staff will ������ provide advice ... on nonproliferation and arms controls issues, and will help develop and implement administration
policies and diplomatic strategies in those areas.������
Einhorn, known as an unrelenting nonproliferation and arms control hawk, worked in the State Department for 29 years before retirement, and was a trenchant critic of the Indo-US nuclear deal. Jocularly called the ������ grand ayatollah��� ��� of nonproliferation, he argued that the Bush administration gave away the house to India in order to build a strategic relationship with India at the risk of undermining nonproliferation regimes.
Former Indian officials hold Einhorn principally responsible for putting India in the nuclear doghouse for decades along with many proliferating nations despite its spotless record on nonproliferation. Ironically, they say, some of the most egregious acts of proliferation , including Chinese supply of nuclear technology and material to Pakistan, and A Q Khan network���s proliferation to North Korea, Iran, Libya, and al-Qaida , among others, took place on Einhorn���s watch.
However, a current official described Einhorn as a pragmatist with whom they have developed a working relationship.
The choice of Einhorn as Clinton���s adviser, coming after the naming of former Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher as the administration���s undersecretary of state for Arms Control and International Security , and Timothy Roemer as US envoy to New Delhi, has cast a shadow on burgeoning India-US ties, specifically the Indo-US nuclear deal.
All three are considered hardline non-proliferationists in the old Democratic mould, and business groups both in US and India are uneasy that they would put a spanner in the works of nuclear energy collaboration that some estimates put at over $150 billion over the next three decades.
An American commercial nuclear mission with 60 executives from 30 companies visited India earlier this year amid apprehension that US firms are behind the curve in capitalizing on the nuclear deal because of bureaucratic hitches in Washington and New Delhi, even as other countries are racing ahead. France and Kazakhstan are among countries that have sped forward with civilian nuclear collaboration with India.
Secretary of state Hillary Clinton announced her choice of Einhorn, a former assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation during the administration of her husband Bill Clinton , as her adviser, saying he and his staff will ������ provide advice ... on nonproliferation and arms controls issues, and will help develop and implement administration
policies and diplomatic strategies in those areas.������
Einhorn, known as an unrelenting nonproliferation and arms control hawk, worked in the State Department for 29 years before retirement, and was a trenchant critic of the Indo-US nuclear deal. Jocularly called the ������ grand ayatollah��� ��� of nonproliferation, he argued that the Bush administration gave away the house to India in order to build a strategic relationship with India at the risk of undermining nonproliferation regimes.
Former Indian officials hold Einhorn principally responsible for putting India in the nuclear doghouse for decades along with many proliferating nations despite its spotless record on nonproliferation. Ironically, they say, some of the most egregious acts of proliferation , including Chinese supply of nuclear technology and material to Pakistan, and A Q Khan network���s proliferation to North Korea, Iran, Libya, and al-Qaida , among others, took place on Einhorn���s watch.
However, a current official described Einhorn as a pragmatist with whom they have developed a working relationship.
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������ In seeking to make India an exception to longstanding nonproliferation rules, the Bush administration has given India virtually all that it wanted and has run major risks with the future of the nonproliferation regime,������ Einhorn told the senate foreign relations committee in one of its several hearings on the subject.The choice of Einhorn as Clinton���s adviser, coming after the naming of former Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher as the administration���s undersecretary of state for Arms Control and International Security , and Timothy Roemer as US envoy to New Delhi, has cast a shadow on burgeoning India-US ties, specifically the Indo-US nuclear deal.
All three are considered hardline non-proliferationists in the old Democratic mould, and business groups both in US and India are uneasy that they would put a spanner in the works of nuclear energy collaboration that some estimates put at over $150 billion over the next three decades.
An American commercial nuclear mission with 60 executives from 30 companies visited India earlier this year amid apprehension that US firms are behind the curve in capitalizing on the nuclear deal because of bureaucratic hitches in Washington and New Delhi, even as other countries are racing ahead. France and Kazakhstan are among countries that have sped forward with civilian nuclear collaboration with India.
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Some analysts suggest that formation of the Tauscher-Einhorn team is directed more against North Korea, Pakistan and other proliferators, and India has been moved out of the rogues��� gallery. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton voted for the nuclear deal when they were senators (despite some reservations) and they are unlikely to undermine it, especially as it involves US commercial interests at a time of grave economic crisis.Download
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