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Bush to press Congress on India nuclear deal

Posted on: Thursday, 2 March 2006, 11:27 CST

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.

Source: REUTERS

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