Indo-US Cooperation

    Visiting India, the American president, George Bush, signed a nuclear deal between the two countries. The aim is to provide the fuel necessary to sustain economic growth in India. There are also several other areas of co-operation. Without critical reflection, however, it is unclear if any of the initiatives are a good for India.

    With the deal, it is much easier for foreign governments to monitor the eight facilities, in India, used for military nuclear development. By agreeing to have eight of its fifteen reactors open to inspection, there is an intelligence loss.

    The push, further, towards commercializing the American diet has already made headway in India, as the middle class seek to imitate the west. Linking American and Indian agricultural interests with bio-technology threaten the environment and culture of India.

    The Bush administration, in addition, does not acknowledge the green house effect as scientific fact, refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol. In conjunction with India’s recent economics-first attitude - before, e.g., environmental, labor and social justice concerns - we cannot take seriously environmental initiatives between the United States of America and India. The pomp and show of the visit, to be sure, will entertain and excite Indians sense of the social.