The United States also hopes to reap the rewards of India's fairly fast economic development in recent years, observers said. India's total foreign trade volume was $437 billion in 2006, but U.S. exports to India only were about $10.1 billion. Through their civil nuclear cooperation, America hopes to open India's door wider for more bilateral business and possibly prompt the country to reduce its high import tariffs.

Last, the deal will strengthen U.S.-Indian military ties, international observers said. In recent years, the U.S. Government has invited India to participate in several military drills. Although India imports much of its current military equipment from Russia, its strengthened ties with the United States will decrease its reliance on Russia, they said.

Two years of negotiations

The United States and India's negotiations over the accord took five rounds of talks over two years to complete. Once the deal was signed, both said that the conclusion of negotiations was a major step forward in fulfilling the promise of full civil nuclear cooperation. The agreement's strategic and economic benefits are expected to enhance energy security, provide a more environmentally friendly energy source, and introduce greater economic opportunities and more robust nonproliferation efforts, according to the joint statement both countries issued after they signed the deal.

Previously, the United States and India made a historic pact in March 2006 that gave India access to American nuclear fuel and expertise in exchange for New Delhi's agreement to separate the country's civilian and military nuclear programs over the next eight years. India also agreed to open its nuclear facilities to permanent international inspections. In July 2005, the United States and India first agreed to cooperate on civilian nuclear energy issues.

The new accord allows India to buy U.S. nuclear reactors and fuel for the first time in 30 years. Under the accord, the U.S. president would be required to stop exporting nuclear materials if India tests another nuclear device, according to Xinhua News Agency. But it does not guarantee uninterrupted fuel supplies for reactors or prevent India from reprocessing spent atomic fuel.

Although the U.S. Congress approved the civil nuclear cooperation accord, it stirred up controversy inside India, because of certain terms the document contained. For example, Indian critics believed that the agreement would place restrictions on the country's nuclear weapons program and that the United States would threaten to cancel the deal if India tested atomic weapons.

A previous report in The Washington Times said that the United States agreed to help India obtain fuel for its reactors even if the country conducted another atomic test. The United States offered to "consider the circumstances" in the event of an Indian nuclear test before deciding to end the agreement, the report said. It went on to say that Washington offered to help New Delhi secure alternative supplies of nuclear fuel to get around a U.S. embargo.

Hold the applause

Although both the United States and India lauded their agreement, others did not. Experts on international affairs are concerned that the accord will have negative consequences.

Through the nuclear cooperation deal, India could use U.S. nuclear materials for civilian nuclear purposes, while saving its own nuclear resources for military purposes, said Zhao of the China Institute of International Studies.

Although India has maintained a good non-proliferation record, no one can guarantee that the country will resist the temptation to develop more nuclear weapons, because it already possesses nuclear materials, devices and technologies, Zhao said.

Critics also see the U.S. move as a betrayal of international non-proliferation principles. Its attitude toward different countries that want to develop nuclear power is a double standard, Zhao said.

"Currently, nuclear issues concerning Iran and North Korea are very sensitive, [so] it would not be surprising if the two countries protested U.S. nuclear cooperation with India," Zhao said, adding other countries could follow the U.S.-India accord example and make their own bilateral agreements to develop nuclear power. Such moves, should they happen, would jeopardize the NPT's authority and in the worst-case scenario throw the global non-proliferation status quo into turmoil, he said.

With the precarious relationship between India and Pakistan, some worry that the U.S.-Indian nuclear agreement might prompt a new round of military competition in South Asia, Zhao said.

On August 27, Tasnim Aslam, a spokeswoman in Pakistan's Foreign Office summed up her country's view of the new accord, "Pakistan's position on the NPT is clear and the nuclear deterrence is an indispensable part of its security." Pakistan had to demonstrate its nuclear capability to restore the regional strategic balance after India's 1998 nuclear tests, she said, adding, "Since the nuclear weapons in these states are a reality, it is better for the credibility of the NPT regime that there should be some kind of accommodation."

The agreement also triggered quarrels inside India. India's ruling Bharatiya Janata or National Congress Party and its leftist allies had to start talks to defuse a crisis on the government because of strains in their ties over the country's nuclear accord with Washington, the Hindustan Times reported. The leftist parties, whose support is crucial for the survival of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition government, opposed the accord. They argued that the agreement would impose American domination on India because of the new U.S. law governing the accord, the report said.