The interim deal was signed by seven foreign ministers of US, UK , France, Russia, China, Germany and Iran but the deal was not negotiated mainly in Geneva, but in Muscat and other locations where the US and Iran met secretly for months. Essentially, it is a deal between US and Iran and the rest were there to serve a choreographic purpose.

There is a lot of inaccuracy and assumption in reporting Chasma 3 nuclear cooperation between China-Pakistan. It is not conceivable in engineering terms as to how a 300 MWe Chasma 3 can be transformed into a 1,000 MWe project.

China and Pakistan reached a formal agreement in February 2013 to construct a third nuclear reactor in Chashma. This has caused widespread nervousness while making the NSG look weak-kneed.

To resolve the challenge posed by the NPT criteria, the best solution would be to amend the NPT and accommodate India as a nuclear weapon state.

While President Obama’s visit to India in November 2010 should further strengthen the Indo-US strategic partnership, some issues have the potential of clouding the relationship. Both sides should be sensitive to each other’s concerns and focus on areas such as space cooperation to give the relationship greater dynamism.

India has to calibrate its relationship with China, the US, and countries of East Asia with great circumspection in the wake of the resurfacing of tensions in the South China Sea.