India with 500 nuclear weapons?

This is making the rounds, but it's worthy of it. In all the bright and brilliant press about Bush's nuclear deal with India, one little fact has remained out of the headlines.

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.....

But now the criticisms may focus on this question: By enabling India to build an unlimited stockpile of nuclear weapons, would this agreement set off a new Asian arms race?

And here's another question: Were Bush and his aides so eager for some good headlines -- for a change -- that they gave away the store?....

The pact also does not require oversight of India's prototype fast-breeder reactors, which can produce significant amounts of super-grade plutonium when fully operating.....

Last week, during a private meeting with a group of congressional leaders, [undersecretary of state for political affairs R. Nicholas] Burns suggested it was unlikely the sides would be able to quickly bridge significant gaps on the separation plan. But a last-minute decision by Bush to accept India's demands sealed the deal.

(also notice in this article that Israel isn't mentioned as one of the "other major nuclear powers." 200 bombs with delivery systems that reach Europe, Russia, and northern Africa rates you as a major nuclear power. Oh, that's right. We don't talk about Israel's nukes.)

Update: Saturday in the LATimes.

Ashley J. Tellis, a senior State Department official and a key architect of the new strategic policy on India, has argued that a buildup of India's nuclear arsenal is not only in New Delhi's interest, but Washington's. It will cause Beijing to worry more about India and less about the United States, Tellis says.

So, administration official Tellis is telling me that a South Asian arms race was the goal of Bush policy?