[What will India gain and lose from the U.S. proposal to support India's civilian nuclear program and welcome that nation into the nuclear club? The issues span India's energy profile, its position in South Asia, its historic aspirations as a leader of the non-aligned nations, and the future of the NPT. In the following article, Dr. Harsh Pant provides a multi-sided analysis of the proposed agreement in Indian, regional, and global perspective. One critical dimension is addressed squarely by Arjun Makhijani, president of the Washington- based Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and a leading technical specialist on nuclear issues in the United States and India. Makhijani observes in a recent Rediff interview: If you look at India's electricity goals, which is 20,000 megawatts by 2020 (presently 3%), the whole of the nuclear energy sector will at best contribute 10 to 12 percent of the total requirement even if everything goes as planned. For this, India seems to be giving up, or at least jeopardising, a much larger and more sure source of energy, one that could provide electricity more competitively than nuclear, which is natural gas from Iran.” Makhijani's reference is to U.S. pressures to join in bringing Iran before the UN Security Council, a move that could jeopardize India's access to Iranian gas. But the issues are not confined to Iran. On January 28, 2006 The Hindu reported U.S. warning to India that it opposes the joint China-India oil deal with Syria. What price U.S. support for what is far from a done deal? Japan Focus]