The new White House administration could revise the agreement because of allegations the United States is giving too much to India and demanding too little in return.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India is telling the national Parliament in Delhi that the country would become completely subordinated to the United States and would be prevented from conducting independent military and nuclear policies.

Indian nuclear scientists and power industry workers have every reason to support the agreement.

India, an emerging industrial powerhouse, is suffering from snowballing energy shortages. It will have to generate 200 percent more power, or 440 gigawatts, by 2017 simply in order to maintain the current 8 percent growth rates.

Geographic factors, the direction of India's rivers and its teeming 1.2 billion population mean that hydroelectric and thermal plants will not be enough to meet rising national energy demands.

New Delhi wants the national nuclear power industry to generate 20 gigawatts to 30 gigawatts by 2020. To achieve this target, India, which annually produces just 300 metric tons of uranium, will require 4,000 metric tons for its nuclear reactors per year. But the country's confirmed deposits contain just 70,000 metric tons of uranium and will be depleted in 15 years. That makes uranium imports inevitable.

Although the United States cannot completely meet Indian energy demand, it will tie the country to its nuclear fuel and technology.

According to Western analysts, Russia, nonetheless, will control at least 25 percent of India's nuclear power market.

Moscow and New Delhi have made headway in the sphere of civilian nuclear power. Russia is completing two 1,000 MW reactors at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in India's southeastern state of Tamil Nadu and has agreed to build four more reactors and supply additional nuclear technology and equipment.

A Russian-Indian agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy could be approved as soon as New Delhi signs safeguard agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group. France, Australia, Japan and Britain also have drafted similar agreements.

In effect, the world's nuclear powers are rushing to enter the Indian market.

Moscow has frequently supplied uranium to India, eventually incurring considerable pressure from other Nuclear Suppliers Group members who demanded it must not violate established rules of the game.

In 2001 Russia delivered uranium to India's Tarapur nuclear plant in the western state of Maharashtra. However, subsequent pressure forced Moscow to suspend uranium shipments until 2006 and to coordinate its terms with the United States.

(Andrei Fedyashin is a political commentator for RIA Novosti. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

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