U.S. Senate Clears Nuke Deal; Bickering Goes On ...

[razors edge]

http://www.watchingamerica.com/timesofindia000008.shtml

“Chinese President Hu Jintau is expected to announce a nuclear cooperation deal with Pakistan, in order to mollify the pique that its client state feels over the U.S.-India deal.”


WASHINGTON: For some it's a strategic leap; for others it's an environmental bailout; for still others, it just makes plain business sense.

As the landmark U.S.-India nuclear deal cleared a major hurdle in the Senate, different constituencies looked at its progress from their own points of view, with only the two governments and a few far-sighted lawmakers seeing the deal in its totality.

The strategic community mulled over the consequences of the tacit acknowledgment of the U.S. and its lawmakers of India's status as a nuclear weapons power, and the immediate fallout from Chinese President Hu Jintao's upcoming visit to the subcontinent, first to India and then to Pakistan.

Hu is expected to announce a nuclear cooperation deal with Pakistan, in order to mollify the pique that its client state feels over the U.S.-India deal. It is also expected to strengthen its ties with Islamabad - a relationship often described as "close as lips and teeth." Whether that deal will have any substance - considering China's own nuclear program is dependant on Western input - is something analysts are uncertain of.