Congratulations are in order for Singh and UPA. I never thought I would say those words to Singh or UPA who I have scant respect for; but congratulations to them for sticking with what they believed in. It is important to understand what the NSG Waiver means for India.
India has been isolated from the world nations since last 34 years after it went ahead with it's first nuclear blast in 1974 under Indira Gandhi. This isolation meant India could not trade any new ideas related to nuclear technology while the world moved ahead. With this NSG waiver, India has officially entered the Nuclear club. And we can now deal with France, Japan, USA etc to transfer technical know-how and develop our own technology if needed in future. Remember Nuclear energy is NOT ABOUT bombs. This nuclear energy we are talking of is actually about clean and alternative energy. (France for example has 70% of it's power coming from Nuclear technology).
In a competitive and globalised world order any sort of isolation is counter productive. And if for nothing else, India needs to congratulate itself for breaking that first glass ceiling.
But we should not celebrate blindly. Last week's leak of a letter sent by Bush to his people was a dampener in a lot of supporters enthusiasm about the deal. It is clear USA will pull out of this deal if India undertakes another nuclear test. But India should now be a more confident nation. In a situation where US and other countries do act "super smart", we should do what Vajpayee did, after Pokhran II blast - show them our middle finger.
We need to be smart and tough in this world order. We need to see our backs and look at what is good for 1 billion Indians before worrying about what others think of us. (learn something from our Red neighbor China)
Talking of China, not surprisingly it was playing dirty behind the scenes during negotiations. US was steadfast in it's support and played a very important role. But before we get too smitten kitten about USA we should know it's all about business baby. They are looking for that economic interest. And to be fair, thats alright. Everyone should and always will.
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