The writer ignores the most significant national security objective that has been abandoned for presumed economic ones. This Government does not think that a credible nuclear deterrent requires testing and an advance on the rather less than credible arsenal Bharat currently possesses. What little we have the Americans want to hamstring by placing their demands in legal terms which will be internationally binding. I can see why Singh with his Governments communist and leftist sympathisors see Bharat as a lapdog are willing to see a lowly role for Bharat to China et al, but those who care for the country should see beyond their blinkers. Containment in economic and military terms are no more clearly written than the strictures demanded on reprocessing. America certainly wants Bharat's nuclear power market but they do not want to see a breeder program to challenge the captive market they wish to establish. The economic, military and political objectives are deeply written in to the American intent in the Hyde Act. Singh may settle for some crumbs but that is not the mood of the nation.
