NEW DELHI, 13 May 2005 — India, which shocked the world with a series of nuclear tests in May 1998, passed a bill in its lower house of Parliament yesterday that bans illegal proliferation of nuclear technology.

“India is and will remain a responsible nuclear power. We have adopted the most responsible policy on sensitive and dual-use nuclear and missile-related technologies,” said Foreign Minister Natwar Singh before lawmakers passed the bill.

“We are committed to ensure that these do not fall into the wrong hands, especially the terrorists and non-state actors,” he added.

The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems bill outlaws the transfer of biological and chemical weapons and their delivery systems.

It lays down that a person caught engaging in nuclear commerce or passing on atomic technology could face five years to a life in prison as well as a fine.

The bill will become law once it is passed by the upper house of Parliament and signed by Indian President Abdul Kalam. The proposed legislation covers Indians in India and abroad and foreigners residing in India.

India has refused to sign two hallmark agreements on proliferation, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and Non-Proliferation Treaty, saying they are discriminatory because they allow the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to keep their nuclear weapons.

After the 1998 tests, which were followed by nuclear tests by rival Pakistan the same month, India announced a moratorium on future testing and called for a time-frame for global disarmament.

India has been wanting to develop its civilian nuclear industry with Russian and US help. In April, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice offered New Delhi greater access to high technology sales, including civilian nuclear power plants and fuel to meet its growing energy needs.

India is currently barred from buying such equipment because it is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty that forbids such sales to countries that do not agree to international inspection of nuclear plants and facilities.

Nuclear energy meets three percent of India’s total power requirement but New Delhi has set itself the target of increasing nuclear energy consumption to 25 percent by 2050.

Even as Manmohan promised a new era of governance yesterday, one of the parties backing the government threatened to withdraw outside support unless “harassment” of its chief stopped.

Both houses of Parliament witnessed pandemonium with members of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alleging “double standards” by the CBI in probing the case of disproportionate assets against their party President Mayawati.

Agitated BSP MPs, raising slogans against the federal agency, stormed into the well of the Lok Sabha, forcing Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to adjourn the proceedings for 15 minutes.

An angry Mayawati threatened she would reconsider her party’s issue-based support to the UPA government. The MPs alleged Mayawati had been harassed by the CBI because she belonged to a lower caste. Their refusal to return to seats provoked Chatterjee to remark: “It’s very shameful, I must say.”

Though the BSP’s 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha support the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government from outside, a withdrawal of support is unlikely to affect the stability of the government.

After the BSP’s outburst, Manmohan said in the Rajya Sabha that the Right to Information Bill, passed in the Lok Sabha Wednesday, would be a pace-setting measure and open a new era of governance. “The Bill strikes a right balance. The intention of the Bill is to evolve an interface between citizens and the process of government,” the prime minister said.

Even as the opposition continued its boycott of parliamentary proceedings, the government moved several crucial bills.

Earlier in the day the ruling Congress-led coalition and its crucial Left allies met here yesterday to work out differences, share their reservations and assess performance as the government neared its first anniversary.

The breakfast meeting at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s 7, Race Course Road residence covered a range of issues, including the controversial sale of state-run Centaur Hotel in Bombay and India’s renewed arms sale to Nepal.

Manmohan Singh sought to apprise the Left, which backs the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) from outside, of the progress made in fulfilling the promises made in the Common Minimum Program.

Besides Manmohan, UPA chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Communist Party of India-Marxist’s new general secretary Prakash Karat, Communist Party of India’s A.B. Bardhan and D. Raja and Revolutionary Socialist Party leader Abani Roy attended the hour-long meeting. None of the Congress allies attended.

Left parties also sought the government’s views on the proposed legislation on employment guarantee, besides expressing concern over a proposal to divest equity in state-run enterprises, leaders emerging from the meeting said.