Nuclear Mangos

For those who don't recall the heady days of March, 2006, let me explain how the title of this blog came to be.

From Dan Froomkin (via Taylor Marsh):

In addition to all the predictable reactions (pro and con) to the landmark nuclear agreement reached in India yesterday, a powerful and unexpected new concern has emerged based on a last-minute concession by President Bush. It appears that, to close the deal during his visit, Bush directed his negotiators to give in to India's demands that it be allowed to produce unlimited quantities of fissile material and amass as many nuclear weapons as it wants.

From Businessweek:

The details were sewn up at 10:30 a.m. this morning, barely two hours before Bush and Singh made a joint public statement of success. The nuclear deal will give foreign businessmen the opportunity to provide 20,000 megawatts of nuclear power for India -- business worth an estimated $60 billion. Optimism over the deal drove the Bombay exchange to an all-time record high.

But the real rewards of the agreement are the deeper feelings of cooperation that the effort has fostered. The success of Bush's trip stems from the quiet and determined work done by the U.S. Trade Representative's office and India's Commerce Ministry.

FRUITS OF DIPLOMACY. You could call it mango diplomacy. Mangoes as a diplomatic tool? Don't laugh. Thanks to the efforts of U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman and Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, much smaller and far more significant and sustainable business opportunities were opened today -- starting with the import of Indian mangoes into the U.S.

From the Times of London, "New Friends Set Seal on Historic Nuclear Deal":

Among the deals announced was the lifting of a 17-year-old ban on Indian mango exports, hailed by Mr Bush. Raising a laugh, he said: “The United States is looking forward to eating Indian mangoes.”

And Madhur Jaffrey, in the New York Times 3/12/06:

WHATEVER anyone else might say, America’s new nuclear and trade pact with India is a win-win deal. India gets nuclear fuel for its energy needs and America, doing far better in what might be called a stealth victory, finally gets mangoes.

For details, armscontrolwonk has been all over the nukes-for-mangos deal. As it says up above--I just use it to remind you what kind of people are in charge right now.