Parsing the Indo – US 123 Agreement

This article was published as Pugwash India Backgrounder in the Indian Pugwash Society's in-house journal Proliferation and Arms Control, Vol IV, 6, August 2007

I) What is the 123 Agreement?

President Bush and  Prime Minister Singh (WPR)

The 123 Agreement [1] is an agreement for civil nuclear cooperation. It is called the 123 Agreement because in the US Atomic Energy Act, (AEA) 1954 civil nuclear cooperation with other countries is permitted under Section 123. The agreement is the follow-up action by the executive (the President, Secretary of State and the Secretary of Energy in consultation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) of an enabling legislation passed by the Congress (in the Indian case this was the Henry J. Hyde Act United States-India peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006).

2) Does the agreement prohibit India from conducting a nuclear test in the future?

No. India has not given up its right to conduct a nuclear test anywhere in the 123 agreement. Article 14(2) of the 123 agreement says:

”The Parties agree to consider carefully the circumstances that may lead to termination or cessation of cooperation. They further agree to take into account whether the circumstances that may lead to termination or cessation resulted from a Party's serious concern about a changed security environment or as a response to similar actions by other States which could impact national security.”

The above cited paragraph is an interpretation of the possible consequences of testing. It can be interpreted as making a differentiation between an ‘unprovoked’ test by India and an Indian nuclear test that follows similar actions by other states (viz. US, China or Pakistan) which “impacts national security or due to ‘serious concerns about a changed security environment.

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