Saudi Arabia has signed an important nuclear deal with America on Wednesday. Under this, America will provide civil (for generating electricity) nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. This agreement has taken place at a time when there is an atmosphere of war and tension throughout the Middle East. This agreement is being considered a major diplomatic success for Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He had been wanting this agreement for more than five years. According to reports, many American officials and nuclear experts including Israel were opposing it. He said that if Saudi Arabia gets the technology of uranium enrichment, then in future it can also move towards making nuclear weapons. This could create a danger of starting a new nuclear arms race throughout the Middle East. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said many times before that if Iran makes nuclear weapons, then Saudi Arabia will also take steps towards acquiring nuclear weapons. Why is this agreement in controversy? Trump removed Israel from the agreement. This agreement was started when Joe Biden was the President. Then America wanted that in exchange for the nuclear deal, Saudi Arabia should give formal recognition to Israel and both the countries should establish diplomatic relations. Under this proposal, America was ready to provide security guarantees, modern weapons and cooperation in civilian nuclear program to Saudi Arabia. In return, Saudi Arabia was expected to open an embassy, appoint ambassadors and begin official relations with Israel. However, this plan failed due to Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent war that started in Gaza. The Saudis began saying that they would not recognize Israel until a separate state of Palestine was created. Trump later changed strategy and separated relations with Israel from this agreement. Saudi influence will increase in the Middle East. It may take 10 years or more to build a nuclear power plant (nuclear reactor). Therefore, after this agreement, Saudi Arabia will remain dependent on America’s nuclear technology and help for a long time. With this, the security, trade and mutual relations between the two countries are expected to be stronger than before. According to Karen Young, an expert at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, Saudi Arabia is taking this step not just for today, but keeping the future in mind. He says that this agreement is not limited to making nuclear power only. This will increase the political power of Saudi Arabia and its influence in the Middle East will also be stronger than before. What benefit will America get? America can get two big benefits from this agreement. 1. American companies may get contracts worth billions of dollars to build nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia. 2. America will get an opportunity to keep a close eye on Saudi Arabia’s nuclear program, which can help it control its concerns about weapons proliferation. Russia and China were also ready to help. If this agreement with America could not be reached for some reason, then Saudi Arabia also had other options. In fact, Saudi had warned many times that if America does not help them in this, then they will take nuclear technology from other countries like China, Russia, France or South Korea. China’s government company China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has already shown interest in building a nuclear plant. Russia’s government nuclear company Rosatom has also signed preliminary agreements with Saudi Arabia. Apart from this, South Korea and France are also being considered as potential partners. It is difficult for the Parliament to change Trump’s decision. Many MPs of the Democratic Party in the US Parliament (Congress) are opposing this agreement. He says that not only will this encourage a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, but it will also reduce the chances for Iran to put a stop to its nuclear program. However, despite these opposition, it will not be easy for the Parliament to stop this agreement. This agreement will be presented in Parliament for approval in the coming days. But if the Parliament wants to stop it, then it will have to pass a joint resolution in this regard. If the President vetoes that proposal, Parliament must muster a two-thirds majority in both houses to overturn that veto. This is the reason why despite political opposition, the possibility of this agreement being implemented is considered high.
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