U.S., India Reach Deal On Nuclear Cooperation

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who co-chairs the Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation, called the deal "a historic failure of this president to tackle the real nuclear threats that we face."

Bush and Singh must also persuade the international Nuclear Suppliers Group, an informal alliance that oversees nuclear transactions, to lift curbs on India. U.S. officials worry that Sweden and several other members might object.

R. Nicholas Burns, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, said in a telephone interview from New Delhi that India, unlike Iran and North Korea, earned special treatment from the United States with its commitment to democracy and international inspections. Burns was intensely involved in working out the details of the pact.

Last week, during a private meeting with a group of congressional leaders, Burns suggested it was unlikely the sides would be able to quickly bridge significant gaps on the separation plan. But a last-minute decision by Bush to accept India's demands sealed the deal.

Burns said one of the most crucial aspects of the pact is that India would subject future civilian plants to inspections. "This is a significant gain for nonproliferation purposes and it certainly is far better than the zero influence we had before the deal," he said. India, however, won the right to classify reactors as for either military or civilian use, which could limit inspections.

Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which would be in charge of the inspections, praised the deal. "It would also bring India closer as an important partner in the nonproliferation regime," he said in a statement issued from his office in Vienna.

Some nonproliferation experts, however, suggested that the deal could trigger an arms race in South Asia, one of the world's most volatile regions. India and its neighbor Pakistan, also a nuclear power, are longtime rivals.

For India, which faces dwindling supplies of indigenous uranium, the deal would allow it to import uranium to fuel its civilian program and free up its local supplies to fuel the weapons program.

"All the United States gets from a nonproliferation standpoint are a few more civilian energy production reactors under safeguards," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington. "But it's meaningless, given that India's weapons production capacity will soar in the coming years."

Of India's 22 nuclear plants, 14 classified for civilian use would be subject to new and permanent international inspections under the deal. The country's eight other reactors, as well as future ones designated for military use, would be off-limits.

There had been debate within the administration about whether the deal would undercut U.S. efforts to confront Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programs. There were also concerns about how the agreement would be accepted in Pakistan, an ally in the U.S. campaign against al-Qaeda. On Thursday, an apparent suicide bombing in Karachi killed a U.S. diplomat and several Pakistanis, underscoring the persistence of regional terrorism.

But supporters said the pact was an important part of a White House strategy to accelerate New Delhi's rise as a global power and as a regional counterweight to China.