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Fusion with an old friend

Russia's commitment to the guaranteed lifetime supply of low enriched uranium (LEU) for the Koodankulam nuclear power project as well as to the supply of additional light water reactors for the KNPP complex is proof that Moscow is eager to ramp up its cooperation with India in the nuclear energy field. To be sure, this eagerness is part of the positive externalities generated by the United States's July 2005 offer of nuclear assistance to India. Exactly a year ago, Russia stepped in with a crucial supply of LEU for Tarapur at a time when the U.S. was haggling over which Indian facilities had to be put on the civilian list as part of the separation plan envisaged by the July 2005 agreement. As with an earlier Russian shipment of LEU, the January 2006 Tarapur supply was justified on the grounds of plant safety. Similarly, fuel for KNPP is perfectly consistent with the Nuclear Suppliers Group's grandfather clause, which allows members to execute commitments made prior to their joining the 45-nation cartel. But once a deal for additional reactors for Koodankulam is inked, Moscow in effect will be demonstrating its belief in the irrelevance of the NSG's prohibitions for a country like India.

Russia's willingness to push the envelope even before the Nuclear Suppliers Group has altered its guidelines is highly significant. By creating new facts on the ground, Moscow can help New Delhi ensure the defeat of any attempt by a nuclear supplier to clutter the changed guidelines with extraneous and objectionable conditions. Having adopted a rather restrictive domestic law on nuclear trade with India, Washington will face pressure from its own atomic industry for similar restrictions to be placed on all potential foreign suppliers. The U.S. Congress repeatedly stressed the need for a "level playing field." Over the long term, Russia's nuclear supply relationship with India has been characterised by reliability, predictability, and constructive spirit. In 1979, when India did not produce enough heavy water for its nuclear power reactors and vital western supplies had dried up (in the wake of the 1974 Pokhran nuclear explosion), the Soviet Union stepped in with an agreement to supply 250 tonnes of heavy water, under IAEA safeguards that included perpetuity as well as pursuit clauses. Within the limitations of its non-proliferation policy and NSG guidelines, Russia has repeatedly come to the aid of India's civilian nuclear programme with supplies of heavy water, LEU, and, in the latest round, nuclear reactors. With Russia's firm backing, India can enter the final phase of its negotiations with the U.S. and the IAEA with enhanced confidence.

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