UNITED STATES-INDIA CIVILIAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT: A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON NON-PROLIFERATION REGIME

Avneet Toor, Santa Clara University

Abstract

Abstract: The non-proliferation regime has had a patent opposition to acknowledging the existence of any nuclear weapon states apart from the admitted club of nuclear powers under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The US-India nuclear cooperation agreement which sought to place India on the same nuclear platform as United States thus came across as a rebellious foray into a potentially fragile international mandate. Interestingly this United States adventure was given approval by the Nuclear Suppliers Group and various other countries which lost no time in entering into nuclear cooperation agreements with India, leaving the critics fuming about the breach of international law. I propound that this agreement is legally defensible and represents a rearrangement of policy functions for a larger global partnership. The legal analysis of this agreement through the labyrinth of treaty interpretation as encoded in the Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties provides this agreement with the necessary legal bulwark for an international legitimacy. Neutralizing the allegations of setback to non-proliferation efforts, the agreement follows the 'something is better than nothing' approach by bringing some accountability to nuclear activities of a de facto nuclear state on the outside of NPT apart from introducing probability of being rewarded for responsible behavior.