Today some secret details were revealed about the nuclear deal between the U.S. and India. This could very possibly take down the Indian government that supported the deal. But instead of supporting that government now, the U.S. ambassador in India practically exposes the Indian prime minister as a liar.

First some background:

India has tested nuclear weapons and is not a member of the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. But it is a big market and the Bush administration wants to get into nuclear business with India. Currently India is blocked from acquiring civil nuclear technology from the industrialized countries that make up the Nuclear Supplier Group.

The Bush administration came up with a shady deal, the 123 Agreement.

India would split its nuclear industry in to a military and a civilian
part and would put the civilian part under IAEA observation rules. It
then would be allowed to buy equipment and Uranium for its civil
nuclear program part. It would even be allowed to do further nuclear
weapon tests.

Proliferation experts hate the deal. A clean difference between
India’s civilian and nuclear program is hard to make and in general the deal
goes against the spirit of the NPT.

The Nuclear Supplier Group, some 45 countries, as well as the U.S.
Congress must agree to the deal. Both have barked. Some smaller
countries within the NSG group currently block the deal despite U.S.
pressure. They demand that India must promise not to test any nuclear
weapons and, if it breaks that promise, all deals must stop
immediately. Congress, though not officially, set similar conditions.

The opposition parties in India have also been very concerned about
the agreement. They see it limiting their countries national
sovereignty. They feel the need to be able to test more nukes,
especially in the case that Pakistan does further testing, and fear
that the agreement would make such impossible. They are also afraid to
become too dependent on ‘western’ sources for technology and natural
uranium. In general, they want to stay neutral and despise anything
that would give Washington more influence and pressure points towards
India.

But prime minister Sing wants the deal including better relations with DC. In 2006 Singh shuffled minister positions within his Congress party government to make the deal possible. In August he told the Indian parliament,

"The agreement does not in any
way affect India’s right to undertake future nuclear tests, if it is
necessary."

In July 2008, after a coalition partner left the government, Singh barely won a confidence vote over the deal.

Now the U.S. betrays him.

Glenn Kessler reports in the Washington Post today:

The United States will not sell sensitive nuclear technologies to India and would immediately terminate nuclear trade if New Delhi conducted a nuclear test, the Bush administration told Congress in correspondence that has remained secret for nine months.

The correspondence, which also appears to contradict statements by Indian officials,
was made public yesterday by Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.), chairman
of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, just days before the 45-nation
Nuclear Suppliers Group meets again in Vienna to consider exempting
India from restrictions on nuclear trade as part of a landmark
U.S.-India civil nuclear deal.
…
The answers [in the correspondence] were considered so sensitive, particularly because debate
over the agreement in India could have toppled the government of Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, that the State Department requested they remain secret even though they were not classified.

The Times of India asks: Did Bush mislead India on nuclear deal?.

The Indian Express headlines N-deal: Was India misled? Left, BJP say YES; US says NO

Reacting sharply to disclosures that the United States
would stop fuel supplies to India if New Delhi carries out a nuclear
test, the BJP [a major opposition party in India] alleged the UPA
government stood ‘completely exposed’ on Indo-US atomic deal.

…
The CPM [a left leaning party] said its stand on the
nuclear deal stood vindicated with the ‘disclosures’ by the US on the
issue and asked the UPA government to suspend all further moves to
operationalise the ‘anti-national’ agreement.

The ruling Congress party obfuscates:

"What
the US administration and or the US President communicate with the US
Congress or a member of the US Congress is entirely their problem,"
Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said here.
…
The Congress leader pointed out that in case India
conducts a nuclear test, the 123 agreement has provision for launching
consultations before taking any action.

Note that those headlines, ‘India misled’, put the blame on the U.S. administration.

One might think that the U.S. administration would now somewhat
sensibly accept that blame and help prime minister Singh through the
assured difficulties.

But here comes the U.S. ambassador and takes the Indian government down:

"This letter contains no new conditions and there is no data in this letter which has not already been shared in an open and transparent way with members of the Congress and with the Government of India," US Ambassador David C. Mulford said in a statement.

Uggh.

Singh fought hard and over years for the deal that Bush also badly
wants. Now the U.S. ambassador declares that Singh knew about the
letter, misled his parliament and publicly lied about the deal. Yes,
one could spin that differently, but this is what the public in India
will apprehend.

Singh lied and the U.S. ambassador even says so.

With friends like this …