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Concern 6: Bar on Side-Deal
Indian opponents to the deal have highlighted a letter from US policy makers asking the US Administration to "to persuade other NSG members to act in concert in terms of the timing, scope, and safeguarding of nuclear supply to all countries, including India." If carried forward, they say that it would disallow India from entering into side deals with other NSG nations even if the relations with the US were to breakdown.
This argument is disingenuous because it is no different from where India is today. While it is true that with the deal going through and assuming other hurdles are crossed, India would have a larger stake and investments in nuclear energy production, it still does not preclude entering "emergency" deals as it did with Russia for fuel for Tarapur. Therefore, it is right to say that India needs to codify the deal in the " 1-2-3 Agreement" carefully to leave it space for such "emergency" imports with friendly nations such as Russia or France. At the same time, it is illogical to argue that this would place restrictions on India.
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