Bush made n-deal centerpiece of Indo-US bilateral ties: report

New York, Sept 30 (PTI) Attacking President George W.
Bush for initiating the "ill-conceived" nuclear deal as the
"centerpiece" of Indo-U.S. bilateral ties, a leading U.S.
daily Tuesday appealed to the Senate to postpone its vote on
the pact.

"We hope that the Senate shows better judgement," the
New York Times said in an editorial, ahead of the Senate's
likely vote on the legislation on Wednesday.

The U.S. House of Representatives had approved the
deal by an overwhelming majority on Saturday.

The Times said the approval of deal would make it even
harder to rein in nuclear ambitions being perused by countries
like Iran.

"India is a democracy, a rising power that has sent
many thousands of talented people to live and work in the
United States," the paper noted and said Bush has correctly
chosen to build a new relationship with India.

"But he erred in making the nuclear deal the
centerpiece of that relationship. And he erred in assuming
that he could selectively break the nuclear rules for India
and still argue that other countries had to do a lot more to
rein in Iran.

"The deal approved by the House fails to meet legal
requirements set previously by Congress," it said.

Stating that the deal was pressed hard by American
businesses and Indian lobbyists, the Times said President Bush
and his aides were so eager for a foreign-policy success that
they didn't even try to get India to limit its weapons
programme in return.

"They got no promise from India to stop producing
bomb-making material, no promise not to expand its arsenal and
no promise not to resume nuclear testing," it added.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee, the editorial
said, abdicated its oversight responsibilities. It held no
public hearings and sent the deal straight to the floor
without even a committee vote.

"We are befuddled as to how the committee's chairman,
Representative Howard Berman, could say he has 'concerns about
ambiguities in the agreement' and still vote for it," the
paper said.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Times
said, has done only slightly more work. It held one hearing at
which administration "cheerleaders" were asked to testify.

"For example, it is not accompanied by a commitment by
countries engaged in nuclear trade to ban transfers to India
of enrichment and reprocessing equipment that is essential to
weapons production.

"Also, it does not include a credible plan by the
Indians for separating their military and civilian nuclear
programmes," the paper said and called on the Senate to
postpone its vote until the next Congress can figure out how
to limit the damage from this deal.