Indian Government Survives U.S. Nuke Deal

Back in 2005 and 2006, the government of India, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Congress Party, negotiated a controversial nuclear deal with U.S. President George Bush that would give India access to U.S. civil nuclear technology and nuclear fuel in exchange for opening Indian civilian nuclear power plants to international inspection. The deal, which effectively created a strategic partnership between India and the U.S., alienated the Communist Party of India (Marxist), a coalition partner of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which feared that the deal would turn India into a "stooge of the U.S." Ever since, the UPA has been a minority in Lok Sabha (the lower house of the Indian parliament). When the Singh government insisted on pushing ahead with the nuclear deal anyway, the main opposition... [read full story]