On Saturday, the 6th of September 2008, 34 years of nuclear isolation for India came to an end in the Austrian capital of Vienna. After going into a few extra days of meetings, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) finally agreed to a nuclear waiver for India, thus giving the country “full civil nuclear cooperation” and complete access to the nuclear market.  The move also allows India to resume civil nuclear cooperation with the world despite possessing nuclear weapons.

After getting the NSG waiver, the next stop for the deal is Washington, where it would be put in front of the US Congress. The Indo-US nuclear pact will then be approved or rejected by an up and down vote. However and irrespective of the decision taken by the US Congress, India can now buy reactors and fuel from countries like Russia and France. India now wakes to a nuclear dawn.

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It was only yesterday that the Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) - the ruling party in India - was negotiating the Nuclear Deal with the United States, in an attempt to boost the country’s Nuclear Power sector. And now that the deal is set and ready to be signed, the Government is itself struggling to stay in power. Energy and ‘Power’ have indeed been closely associated in the recent past and politics is known to be governed by the energy sector. But when the world’s largest democracy faces a political crisis over an energy policy, we can safely conclude that in the climate constrained world of today, the only way to stay in power is to get the energy policy right!

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