US Senate approves Indo-U.S nuclear deal

Sridhar Krishnaswami
Washington, Oct 2 (PTI) The U.S. Congress Thursday put
its stamp of approval on the controversial Indo-US nuclear
deal when the Senate overwhelmingly voted a Bill rejecting all
the killer amendments, paving the way for the implementation
of the historic initiative between the two countries.

The deal, entered into between Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh and President Geroge W Bush in 2005 and which nearly
brought down the United Progressive Alliance (U.P.A.)
Government, was approved by the Senate
with 86 voting for and 13 against with bi-partisan support
after rejecting the killer amendments moved by two Democratic
Senators.

Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden, a
strong supporter of India, also voted for the Bill.

The Bill, which has already been cleared by the House
of Representatives, will now head to the White House for
Bush's approval.

With Thursday's Senate vote, the deal is now ready for
signing by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice when she
arrives in New Delhi on her rescheduled trip on Saturday with
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Already approved by the House of Representatives, the
Bill has a paragraph that the U.S. can cease nuclear
cooperation with India if New Delhi conducts a test.

The Senate approval marks the tortuous path the deal
took in the last three years, especially in India with the
Left parties who had supported the U.P.A. government from
outside strongly opposing the deal and withdrawing support on
the issue.

In an apparent attempt to assuage the naysayers, Rice
had yesterday wrote a letter to Senate majority leader Harry
Reid, saying a nuclear test by India would result in "most
serious consequences", including automatic cut-off of U.S.
cooperation as well as a number of other sanctions.

However, Rice said the U.S. believed that the Indian
Government intends to uphold the continuation of the nuclear
testing moratorium it affirmed to the United States in 2005
and reiterated to the broader international community as
recently as September 5, 2008.

The deal between the two countries also led to the
ending of 34 years of nuclear apartheid against India when the
NSG granted a historic waiver on September six after which
France also signed an agreement with India for civil nuclear
cooperation.

The passage of the 123 agreement is considered as a
major diplomatic victory for the Bush administration.

White House hopefuls Democrat Barack Obama and
Republican John McCain also voted in favour of the Bill.

The Prime Minister himself was to sign the deal last
week during his meeting with Bush, but could not do so because
of the US Congress' pre-occupation with the financial bailout
package.

The Bush administration had said that the pact will
secure a strategic partnership with India to meet its rising
energy demand and open up a market worth billions.

At the start of the two-minute debate prior to voting,
the Ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee Richard Lugar asked his colleagues to participate in
a "historic" moment.

"This is an opportunity for the United States and
India to come together in a way that historically is important
for the world. India is a very important country for us and
this relationship is sealed in a very significant way by this
agreement," he said.

"...We ask senators to vote on this... moment for a
partnership that will be enduring, in my judgment, and will
make a big difference in the history of the world," Lugar
said.

But Byron Dorgan of North Dakota insisted with the
amendment that he and his colleague from New Mexico introduced
stressing that the U.S.-India agreement is a "flawed" one that
would result in the addition of more nuclear weapons in the
planet.

"Our amendment is relatively simple. It says, if India
tests nuclear weapons, this agreement is nullified and we work
to try to shut off supplies from the other supplier groups.
The last thing we ought to allow is to have India begin
testing nuclear weapons without consequence to the agreement
that has been negotiated with India.

But Senator Christopher Dodd, Acting Chair of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Floor Manager on
Wednesday for the legislation, came back with a spirited
response to the call of his colleague on the Amendment.

"...I would merely point out to my colleagues on this
particular amendment they offer, the Atomic Energy Act, the
Arms Export Control Act, the Hyde Amendment and this bill all
have provisions in it that would allow us to respond, should
India decide to detonate a nuclear weapon," Senator Dodd said.

"No one anywhere wants to see a further proliferation
of nuclear weapons. But India and the United States are the
two largest democracies in the world. India is in a very tough
and fragile neighbourhood. It's important that we develop and
improve that relationship that has been a tense one since
1974. This agreement began with the work of President Clinton,
was concluded by President Bush," he added.

"We think it is an agreement worth supporting and we
urge our colleagues to do sends respectfully reject this
amendment," Dodd said. PTI SK