U.S.-India Nuclear Deal Near Collapse

For those who haven't read the good news yet, recent reports indicate that the U.S.-India nuclear deal may be about to collapse. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told President Bush on Monday that "certain difficulties" will prevent the country from moving forward on the pact for the foreseeable future.

A major blow to both the Bush and Singh administrations, the deal appears to have been brought down by the Communists who threatened to withdraw from Singh’s coalition government and call for early elections.

Despite Bush administration claims that “it’s not dead,” the outlook is not good. India may eventually pursue negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), but that’s not likely, at least not in the near term.

As noted by the Center's Executive Director, John Isaacs: "Nuclear non-proliferation efforts may have dodged a bullet. If implemented, this deal would have driven a hole through the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which for decades has stood as our first line of defense against nuclear weapons spreading to dozens of countries."