But for the fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency -- like many other UN watchdog bodies -- leaks like a sieve, we would still have been ignorant of the contents of the draft safeguards agreement submitted by the UPA Government for circulation among IAEA Governors for their approval. The Government of India, it is obvious, is yet to recognise the power of the Internet and realise the importance of transparency at home instead of obsessive secrecy. But even if there had been a tradition of transparent governance -- look at the remarkable way policies are framed in the US -- the Government would have been reluctant to make the draft of the proposed safeguards agreement with the IAEA public. On the contrary, it would have exerted -- as it has done -- to keep it a secret, just as it has been less than forthcoming about the fineprint of the proposed India-US civilian nuclear cooperation agreement ever since it was first mooted on July 18, 2005. Sure, the Prime Minister has on various occasions made statements in Parliament on this issue; in retrospect, on none of these occasions has he been upfront. Doubts and apprehensions raised by parliamentarians were brushed aside as being 'unfounded'; questions asked by scientists were studiedly ignored as being 'irrelevant'. Yet, with the unveiling of the draft safeguards agreement, those 'unfounded' doubts and apprehensions have come true and the 'irrelevant' questions have been answered: The UPA Government has led India into a b
