2007:Year of the "Deal or No Deal"
2007 Review
It was the year of the 'deal or no deal' as the landmark India-US civil nuclear accord took a roller coaster ride while business bloomed and Indians set out to 'conquer' corporate America.
Euphoria over President George W. Bush pushing that "wonderful deal" through a lame duck Congress in its dying moments gave way to despair as the dawn of the New Year will still see negotiators set out to write a 123 agreement to get the deal going.
If India wanted to get into the world nuclear club with its right to conduct a test intact besides uninterrupted fuel supplies and reprocessing rights, the enabling Henry Hyde Act passed by the US Congress would have none of it.
Hopes soared high again when negotiators accomplished "the mission impossible" exactly two years and two days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bush struck the deal July 18, 2005, to resume their nuclear trade after 30 years.
The accord described as a clear recognition of "a real difference" between India and Pakistan was seen as the culmination of what Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calls 'de-hyphenation' of the two South Asian neighbours in Washington's worldview.
