NEW DELHI, 18 November 2006 — India yesterday welcomed the approval of the landmark India-US nuclear deal by the Senate on Thursday, but warned against any deviation in the final version that needs to be passed by a joint session of Congress before it becomes effective.
The Senate gave its nod yesterday by 85 votes to 12 after several proposed amendments — which India had opposed — were defeated.
In a statement in Singapore, US President George W. Bush welcomed the passage of the bill and described the Indo-US relationship as a “strategic partnership” based on common values.
Bush said: “Today, the Senate has acted to further strengthen this relationship by passing legislation that will deliver energy, nonproliferation and trade benefits to citizens of two great democracies.”
The agreement “will bring India into the international nuclear nonproliferation mainstream and will increase the transparency of India’s entire civilian nuclear program,” Bush added.
While welcoming the passage of the bill through the Senate, Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said: “We must await the final version before drawing any conclusions on the legislation.
“We now expect that the final version of the legislation, which would emerge after the joint conference of the House and Senate, should adhere as closely as possible to the understandings incorporated in the July 18, 2005 Indo-US joint statement and the March 2006 Separation Plan, so that full civil nuclear cooperation between India and the US becomes a reality and contributes to India’s energy security,” Mukherjee said.
At the same time, he acknowledged that the Senate approval displayed “very broad bipartisan support” enjoyed by this initiative.
The final version is likely to come up for a vote by Congress when the two houses reconvene on Dec. 4.
The bill carves out an exemption in American law to allow US civilian nuclear trade with India in exchange for Indian safeguards and inspections at its 14 civilian nuclear plants. Eight Indian military plants would be off-limits.
Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly endorsed the plan in July, but the House and Senate must still agree on the details. The reconciled bill would then be sent to President Bush for his signature. An exception for India would also have to be made by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an assembly of nations that exports nuclear material. Indian officials also must negotiate a safeguard agreement with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Welcoming the deal’s approval, Congress President Sonia Gandhi indicated that no changes to the deal would be acceptable to New Delhi. “The position of the Congress party and the UPA (ruling United Progressive Alliance) is that nothing will be accepted which is outside the July 18 agreement,” she said.
Describing the bill’s passage through the Senate as a “very positive development,” US Ambassador to India David C. Mulford said: “It is a historic day in the long relations between India and the US.... Perhaps the best day ever.... We can now move forward with a great deal of optimism.”
On India’s suspicions about objectionable clauses being inserted in the final version of the bill, Mulford said: “Well, the administration will do its best to work on the provisions, but I think it is important to keep in mind that both bills are first of all relatively similar and not relatively different.”
