Nuclear deal wins Washington as it continues to battle New Delhi

house of reps n Bipartisan support 359-68; clears way to reinforce alliance: Hyde

Washington, July 27: Surprising even many of the Indian supporters and those in the State Department, the House of Representatives last night passed the civilian nuclear agreement between India and the United States with an overwhelming majority.

After over four hours of marathon debate on the path-breaking agreement inked about an year ago when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, visited here, as many as 359 Congressmen voted in favour of the bill (No. 5682), while the opposition was restricted to just 68 lawmakers.

The vote is a quick, major victory for the Bush administration, which argued that nurturing India as an ally outweighed critics’ concerns that the agreement would free more nuclear material for India to use for the manufacture of nuclear weapons.

Until the vote on Wednesday evening, American law had prohibited nuclear cooperation with any of the three states that have refused to sign the nonproliferation treaty: India, Pakistan and Israel.

Several leading Democrats, including Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, argued in favor of the deal, which was supported by both the India-American lobby and the nuclear industry.

An amendment offered by several Democrats that would require India to agree to limit its production of nuclear weapons fuel was defeated on the floor on Wednesday evening, with supporters of the deal saying it would be rejected by the Indians.

“India already possesses nuclear weapons, and is very unlikely to dispose of them,” Representative Henry J. Hyde, the Republican from Illinois who is chairman of the House International Relations Committee. “This is the proverbial deal killer.”

The bill got bipartisan support from the lawmakers. Congressional details of the voting pattern show that as many as 219 Republicans voted in favor of the nuke bill, while only nine lawmakers voted against. While 140 Democrats voted in favor of the bill, the opposition came from 58 Democratic lawmakers.

Six Congressmen did not vote. The House of Representatives rejected all the amendments, which if accepted, would have virtually killed the agreement. The killer amendments were from Brad Sherman, Howard Berman and Edward Markey. However, the deal still has a long way to go before it can be finally implemented. It is likely to be brought before the Senate after the summer recess in September and then to the President for final signature.

After India signs an agreement on safeguards , and those with the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the 123 Agreement with the US, the bill would be brought before the Congress for a second vote.

After the vote, Hyde said: “It clears the way for the US and India to reinforce an already strong, strategic alliance. As it is crafted, it represents a judicious balancing of competing priorities.” Besides, “It will enable India to make energy cheaper, cleaner and more accessible. It would create more customers for the US firms and...both countries will benefit,” he said.

The agreement calls for the US to sell technology to India for nuclear power development. In return, India will open its 14 civilian nuclear reactors to international inspections, agree not to test nuclear weapons, and abide by nuclear export controls.Bush says it’s historic

• “This historic action by the House of Representatives is another important step toward building a new strategic partnership between the United States and India, the world’s oldest and largest democracies.”

— US President George Bush