ExpertDabbler

I have been wanting to write this for sometime. Let me make this clear. I am no US lover when it comes to their foreign policies.

But there is something called durable competitive advantage. Warren Buffet is always fond of talking about them.
I guess some entities - be it countries or companies have that. US is one of them. The way to play with those entities is to partner with them but be clear on our priorities. I don’t think its a zero sum game. There is lot of brouhaha going on about this being a stake sale to the US. Our PM is for once right in drawing clear parallels to the economic liberalization reforms and and how that got dubbed as a stake sale too.

What exactly is the issue? The main selling point of those who oppose this deal is the reputation of US. I agree that is a concern.

On the other hand, there is nothing concrete to suggest we are compromising on our national interest. Are we signing NPT? No.
Do we have exit route? Yes.

Assuming this deal is not perfect, do we have any alternate plans to meet our energy requirements? Nothing concrete so far.

I did read about thorium resources in india but not sure how that can be capitalized. How better is that route than the US deal? One blogger says we have 80% of the world’s thorium reserves, another web site says we have 30%. Again no clear answers.

I do not think the US can treat India the way it has treated other countries simply because India is too huge a market for US corporates.

There is always an element of risk and uncertainty in any kind of decision making, let alone the one which has a nation’s progress at stake. What I look for in these situations is the long term perspective.

Given all this, I think the risk taken by our PM seems to be a calculated risk. If nothing else, this would be seen as a risk which had a positive approach rather than fear and suspicion as propounded by the left.

Forget everything, our PM should be appreciated for just taking the time to think about our energy requirements in the future.
That in itself is a kind of achievement among Indian politicians.

Bottomline: Notwithstanding my allergy to US foreign policy, I would support the N-deal.

PS: Had this in my draft for far too long