Bush to press Congress on India nuclear deal

By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President George W. Bush must
persuade international regulators and a skeptical U.S. Congress
that his nuclear energy accord with India will help stop the
spread of weapons.

Congress and the 44-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group must
both approve Bush’s landmark accord, which would allow India,
after three decades of pariah status, access to billions of
dollars in U.S. and other atomic technology and fuel to meet
its soaring energy needs.

In the run-up to Bush’s meeting with Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, some members of Congress made it
clear there would be close scrutiny of the agreement, which
accepts India as a nuclear power despite its decision to
produce nuclear weapons in defiance of international standards.

Democratic Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, a leading
critic, called the accord “a historic failure of this president
to tackle the real nuclear threats that we face.”

“With one simple move the president has blown a hole in the
nuclear rules that the entire world has been playing by and
broken his own word to assure that we will not ship nuclear
technology to India without the proper safeguards,” said
Markey, the co-chair of the bi-partisan task force on
non-proliferation.

Rep. Ed Royce of California, chairman of the House
subcommittee on international terrorism and non-proliferation
and a member of Bush’s Republican party, said there is
enthusiastic support in Congress for growing U.S.-India ties.

“However, the U.S.-India agreement on civil nuclear
cooperation has implications beyond U.S.-India relations. In
this process, the goal of curbing nuclear proliferation should
be paramount. Congress will continue its careful consideration
of this far-reaching agreement,” Royce said.

Until Thursday’s deal, Washington and New Delhi were
divided on how India will separate its military and civilian
nuclear plants, opening the latter to international
inspections.

Many members of Congress and others in the United States
involved in non-proliferation issues are concerned because
India has not signed the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and
because, they said, the accord would permit New Delhi to
rapidly expand its nuclear weapons production.

Both sides were reluctant to give details of the agreement
but sources close to the negotiations said India had agreed to
list 14 of its 22 reactors as civilian and open them to
scrutiny.