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A nuclear deal between India and the United States has sparked serious instability within the Indian government. After more than 3 years of negotiations over a US-India nuclear agreement, the Indian parliament today held a vote of confidence in the coalition government led by the Congress Party. The vote was called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the two leftist parties pulled their support of the US-India nuclear deal, saying that it would make India subservient to US policy. If the deal goes through, it would ostensibly provide India with access to American civilian nuclear technology in exchange for nuclear-armed India agreeing to oversight by the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency. “The deal,” as its simply called in India today, is a legacy-builder for Singh, with one reporter claiming, “No Indian prime minister has ever staked his government’s future so completely and so unilaterally like Mr Singh has.” The confidence vote is so close that six parliamentarians currently serving prison sentences for various crimes were temporarily freed to take part in the vote. Lawmakers recovering from illnesses and even surgery were flown in. Emotions ran high with the Chief Minister of one state, Uttar Pradesh, claiming that the deal makes India a “slave” of the US. The Bush administration is keen on finalizing the nuclear deal before the President’s tenure ends at the end of the year.

GUEST: Badri Raina, former professor at Delhi University, writer, and columnist for Znet Read Badri Raina’s articles online here: http://www.zmag.org/zspace/badriraina.