The cost of India's nuclear U-turn

iht.com ^ | October 16, 2007 | Andy Mukherjee

[Tailgunner Joe]

Unless Singh has staged a tactical retreat to take the Marxists by surprise in a later offensive, the so-called 123 agreement with the United States is now dead. ...

Singh's unexpected U-turn on the nuclear deal greatly diminishes the possibility of early elections, though at the cost of punching a big hole in the government's credibility.

In the three years that it has been in power, the government has spent money on ill-conceived programs like guaranteeing 100 days of work for each village household. The rural-job guarantee has been an avenue for corruption and has created little in the way of durable assets.

Singh's ministers have also tried - so far unsuccessfully, thanks to the judiciary - to set aside seats in an already restrictive higher education system through caste-based quotas.

At the same time, Singh's government has accomplished next to nothing in areas where it had much to do.

The communists aren't amenable to the idea of government paring its stake in state-run banks. So that plan, which would have made the Indian banking system more competitive, has been put on the back burner.

A proposal to modernize the pension industry has met with a similar fate. The urgent task of amending ultrarestrictive employment laws, which are impeding the growth of labor-intensive industries, hasn't even been attempted by the government. It is also hesitant to loosen controls on foreign investment in retail, because the communists are opposed to it.

Any chance that Singh's government would make up for lost time in pursuing the stalled economic agenda has been squandered now that the Marxists have gotten their way on the nuclear deal.

From now on, populism will reign. Next year, 5.5 million government servants will probably be given a hefty pay increase.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Singh's unexpected U-turn on the nuclear deal greatly diminishes the possibility of early elections, though at the cost of punching a big hole in the government's credibility.

This is what happens when you form a government with Communists. The agreement is so overwhelmingly in India's interest and it's terms so lopsidedly in India's favor that any rational Indian should vote for it. But no one has ever accused Communists of rational thought.

[mamelukesabre]

bump for later

[Gengis Khan]

Its not as lopsidedly in India’s favor as is painted by the western press. Its not completely against India’s interests either as Commies would have you convinced. Its a bitter pill to swallow given India’s desperate energy needs. The American government and the NPT Ayatollahs are well aware of the fact and they are taking full advantage of it. The deal is complex in itself and there are several issues that need to be ironed out before the deal can be accepted. The communist rational for opposing the deal is totally unfounded but even the right wing BJP is against the deal in its current shape.