<b>If UPA coalition in India loses the Parliament trust vote, the ball will be in the court of America to implement the deal after IAEA board approval</b>
Anima Solanki
Jul. 18, 2008
Indian government has to only see the agreement through the IAEA board. The next few stages will be spearheaded by the US, not India. What it means is that even if the Government loses the trust vote, it will be George Bush who will seal the fate of Indiaâs nuclear freedom and not Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi.
If the UPA coalition fails the trust vote and becomes a caretaker government, they would be constrained from taking any fresh policy decisions. But there is no law that prevents a government from carrying on with its existing policies,
Legally, there is nothing that stops the government. In many ways, the deal then goes out of Indiaâs hands as it will be the responsibility of the US to pilot it through the NSG.
Sources also said German chancellor Angela Merkel has indicated that, as president of the NSG, she would call an NSG meeting within days of the IAEA clearing the deal. In the US, senator Joe Biden has also gone on record to say that he would fight "like the devil" to clear the deal if India does its bit. Moreover, Barack Obamaâs support for the deal has almost put it on autopilot.
Anima Solanki
Jul. 18, 2008
Indian government has to only see the agreement through the IAEA board. The next few stages will be spearheaded by the US, not India. What it means is that even if the Government loses the trust vote, it will be George Bush who will seal the fate of Indiaâs nuclear freedom and not Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi.
If the UPA coalition fails the trust vote and becomes a caretaker government, they would be constrained from taking any fresh policy decisions. But there is no law that prevents a government from carrying on with its existing policies,
Legally, there is nothing that stops the government. In many ways, the deal then goes out of Indiaâs hands as it will be the responsibility of the US to pilot it through the NSG.
Sources also said German chancellor Angela Merkel has indicated that, as president of the NSG, she would call an NSG meeting within days of the IAEA clearing the deal. In the US, senator Joe Biden has also gone on record to say that he would fight "like the devil" to clear the deal if India does its bit. Moreover, Barack Obamaâs support for the deal has almost put it on autopilot.