AS Bhasin’s book Negotiating India’s Landmark Agreements traces a shift in US policy toward India: from sanctions after its 1974 nuclear test, to stricter measures after the 1998 tests, and eventually to civil nuclear cooperation in 2008. That sequence—and the explanation for the change—is the author’s account in an excerpt published by Scroll.in, rather than an independently verified history.
The book excerpt and its argument
Scroll.in published an excerpt from AS Bhasin’s Negotiating India’s Landmark Agreements, published by Penguin India, on October 30, 2024. Bhasin presents the history of US restrictions and their eventual easing as a story of changing diplomatic and strategic priorities. The excerpt offers an account of that evolution, not a comprehensive record based on primary US and Indian government documents.
1974: sanctions after India’s first nuclear test
Bhasin describes India’s 1974 test as a peaceful nuclear test and says it prompted severe US sanctions. The excerpt says India continued developing nuclear energy despite those restrictions. This is the author’s summary; the excerpt does not provide a detailed sanctions inventory or primary documentation for the measures.
1998: a sharper response and a dispute over security
After India’s 1998 nuclear tests, the excerpt says, the United States imposed stricter sanctions. It reports that President Bill Clinton rejected India’s security justification, saying: “it is not necessary to manifest national greatness by doing this.” The excerpt supplies no speech date or venue for the remark.
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India’s stated rationale
Bhasin describes Jaswant Singh as criticizing the non-proliferation order as unequal and arguing that India’s nuclear weapons served self-defence. The excerpt situates India’s security concerns in relation to China and Pakistan, but it does not offer a balanced comparison of the competing security arguments.
Conditions reported by the author
The excerpt says the Clinton administration made relaxation of sanctions conditional on five steps or outcomes:
- Signing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
- Establishing a fissile-material cutoff regime.
- Restraining strategic missile capability.
- Strengthening export controls.
- Finding a solution to the Kashmir issue.
These conditions are presented as Bhasin’s account; the excerpt is not itself a primary US policy document.
From restrictions to civil nuclear cooperation
Bhasin attributes the gradual US policy shift in the early 2000s to strategic and political considerations, including US interest in India’s role in Asia. That explanation is the author’s interpretation of the change, not an independently established account of US motives. The excerpt identifies the India-US civil nuclear agreement, signed on October 10, 2008, as a major break from restrictions that had accumulated after the 1974 test and India’s refusal to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). It says the agreement reflected earlier joint statements and India’s separation plan.
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The excerpt also states that US investments accounted for 33 per cent of cumulative foreign investments in India by the turn of the millennium. It does not identify the original statistical publisher or define the precise measurement period, so that figure should be understood as reported in Bhasin’s excerpt, not as an independently verified official statistic.
More broadly, the excerpt is a historical entry point rather than a substitute for treaty texts, archival records, or original government statements. Its account is useful for understanding how Bhasin connects the tests, sanctions, and later agreement, while claims about policy details and motives remain attributable to the author unless confirmed by those underlying records.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.About the book
Negotiating India’s Landmark Agreements is by AS Bhasin and was published by Penguin India. Scroll.in’s October 30, 2024 article presents an excerpt with permission. The excerpt identifies the book but does not establish its current edition, availability, or price.
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