The Hindu : Front Page : U.S. House all set to discuss bill

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 26, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

U.S. House all set to discuss bill

K.V. Prasad

NEW DELHI: The United States House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee resolution on the India-U.S. civil nuclear cooperation for consideration of the House of Representatives is scheduled to be discussed on Thursday (Friday in India).

It strongly invokes the 2006 Henry J. Hyde Act with an add-on that the U.S. will work with member-countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to call off the deal in case of testing by India.

Though Chairman Howard Berman voted for the deal in 2006, he introduced a bipartisan resolution in 2007 asking the Bush administration to ensure that the NSG does not provide a “clean waiver.”

The unnumbered resolution listed on the House schedule is titled: “To approve the U.S.-India Agreement for Cooperation on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, and other purposes.”

It directs the U.S. government that in the event that nuclear transfer to India is suspended or terminated, Washington will seek to prevent the transfer to India nuclear equipment or technology.

While the resolution makes no specific reference to nuclear testing, the reference to the Hyde Act means that the law, when passed by both chambers in the Congress, includes nuclear testing as indicated by the administration on earlier occasions to the Committee.

Mr. Berman, whose Committee has been holding on to the documents transmitted to it by U.S. President George Bush on September 10, also urged that the administration ask India to sign the additional protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency at an “earliest possible date.” The resolution is silent on how the U.S. should engage India on Iran, but the fact that it mentions the Hyde Act that urges New Delhi’s engagement on the issues could be interpreted that Washington expects New Delhi to be on the same side of the fence.

Preliminary study of the draft resolution available with The Hindu indicates the President will now have to give an undertaking to the Congressional committees, the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee as to how it is working with the NSG on restricting the transfer of equipment and technology relating to enrichment and reprocessing of spent fuel.

By placing the resolution under suspension of rules, the Chair has limited the debate to 40 minutes without amendments. However, it appears to be different from the text of the resolution, which the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 19-2 earlier this week. The practice is that in case the language of the resolutions in either chamber is at variance with the other, it is reconciled in a conference meeting between representatives of both the chambers.

The process requires conferees to be appointed in either chamber and following the meeting, the resolution goes back to both the Houses for final ratification.

We will wait for vote: Shivshankar Menon

'Deal subject to Hyde Act'

More Koodankulam units only if Russia amends law

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page