Posted on 03/10/2006 7:02:32 PM PST by nypokerface
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A landmark US deal extending civilian nuclear technology to India could open up 100 billion dollars in energy business ventures for Americans, a top US business group said.
US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh clinched the deal in New Delhi last week that still requires US Congress approval for implementation.
It gives India access to long-denied civilian nuclear technology in return for placing a majority of its nuclear reactors under international inspection.
"This agreement could provide the US business community with 100 billion dollars worth of new opportunities in India in the energy sector alone," said Dan Christman, the US Chamber of Commerce's senior vice president of international affairs.
"But the significance of deepening of the strategic partnership between the two democracies goes far beyond commercial terms," said Ron Somers, the president of the US-India Business Council.
The agreement could spur energy-starved India's economic reforms and open markets to US investment in key areas from information technology and telecommunications to pharmaceuticals and insurance, Christman said.
But Bush faces a battle to get the accord through Congress where legislators are concerned that regimes like Iran and North Korea will cite it to pursue their own nuclear weapons ambitions.
The US Atomic Energy Act currently prohibits nuclear sales to states which are not signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
India refused to sign the NPT and developed nuclear weapons on its own, but the Bush administration contends that India has a good record on not spreading dangerous nuclear technology to other states.
However, a US think tank on Friday questioned India's nuclear non-proliferation record, saying it had uncovered illicit Indian government nuclear procurement from Europe that leaked sensitive atomic technology.
The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a private group in Washington, said in a report that it "has uncovered a well-developed, active, and secret Indian program to outfit its uranium enrichment program and circumvent other countries' export control efforts."
Uranium enrichment is used as fuel for nuclear reactors but can -- in highly refined form -- be the fissile core of an atom bomb.
"Indian procurement methods for its nuclear program leak sensitive nuclear technology," said the report, co-authored by ISIS President David Albright, a former UN nuclear inspector.
The Bush administration has proposed that an India-specific amendment be made to the US Atomic Energy Act to overcome the legislative hurdles.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "gave to the congressional leadership this week in the meetings she had, some ideas for how this legislation could be written," a senior State Department official said Friday.
"We have to respect the prerogatives of Congress but we are suggesting India-specific amendments to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954," Nicholas Burns, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, told reporters after briefing the US Chamber of Commerce on the deal.
The chamber, which represents more than three million American businesses and organizations, said it would make a "massive grassroots effort" to win congressional approval of the agreement.
"We're confident that once Congress has all the facts, they will strongly endorse an agreement that will help cement a new and important strategic partnership between the United States and India," Christman said.
A group of 20 eminent scholars, diplomats and former US government officials have sent an open letter to the US lawmakers urging them to endorse the deal.
"To sum up, the arguments made against the agreement are outweighed by the arguments in its favor," they said, according to a copy of the letter sent to AFP.
Civilian nuclear cooperation with India will strengthen its political and economic stability, further US non-proliferation goals and US energy security, and help combat the growing danger posed by global warming, the group argued.
The US-India pact, which also needs to be accepted by the 44-member international Nuclear Suppliers Group, would effectively end India's status as a nuclear pariah after it first tested a nuclear weapon three decades ago.
Ping
Is $100 billion of new business actually worth a Presidential visit?
Yes!
Somebody help me out here. The article mentions illicit procurement of nuclear material from Europe to help with Uranium enrichment. Why would India want to enrich Uranium when all her bomb designs are based on Plutonium?
they need all that electricity - to run the US computer industry, which is being shipped over there.
Not for bombs but for their nuclear submarine project.
LOL
Are you kidding?
Uh-huh. Say hello to the tooth fairy the next time you see her, okay?
No. The real world requires a shift from economy--household management--to ecumeny--global commerce. $100 billion is meaningless in economic terms, but at the lower end of ecumenical terms. The Prez shouldn't be concerned with the small stuff.
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