Indian Official Defends Deal With U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A landmark civilian nuclear cooperation deal with the United States would not boost India's nuclear weapons arsenal, India's foreign secretary said Thursday.

In often strong words, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran attacked the criticism that has surrounded a pact critics say would weaken efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. He told an audience at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, that India's record on nuclear issues has long been one of restraint and responsibility.

Saran takes on NPT lobby, rebuts claims on Indian weapons plan

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Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on Thursday took the US’s non-proliferation pundits head-on and sought to demolish the series of arguments advanced by them in recent weeks to derail the Indo-US nuclear deal.

In the course of an address to the Heritage Foundation, Washington’s foremost conservative think tank, Saran came up with a point-by-point rebuttal to make the case that the nuke deal neither weakens the non-proliferation regime nor lets India an opportunity to build up its arsenal in a big way.

“If our posture so far has been one of restraint and responsibility – not disputed even by our critics – there is no reason why we should suddenly change now,” he commented.

“Some aspersions have been cast on our technology control record. I would like to strongly underline that not only our non-proliferation record but even the export control record – that goes back to the 1984 MOU with USA – has been exemplary,” he said.

Delivering the address before proceeding to Capitol Hill for a series of meetings with key lawmakers, Saran termed it “a false analogy” to hold forth that making an exception for India would weaken the non-proliferation regime and encourage other non-nuclear states that may harbour weapons ambitions.

During a Q&A that followed, Saran said any legislation that emerges from the US Congress should be in line with “the parameters of understanding” reached between the two governments. “If it’s within bounds, we won’t have a problem,” he said while responding to a question on the possibility of Congress seeking conditions to implement the deal. He, however, hastened to add that one would have to see precisely what emerges.

Turning to those still weighing the merits of the nuclear understanding, Saran posed: “Does it serve global security if India remains outside the non-proliferation system? Will India’s rising demands for oil and attendant implications for global oil prices help the world economy? What would be the emission consequences of greater consumption of fossil fuels?”

He dwelt on the commitment India has made to refrain from transferring enrichment and reprocessing technologies to nations that do not have them, adding: But India cannot be a partner and a target at the same time."

Asked to comment on the possibility of an extraordinarily long haul for the nuke deal legislation in Congress, he said India, being a democracy, was not surprised that there should be an extended debate with doubts being raised. He then went on to say: “We believe we have satisfactory answers to reservations (being expressed).”

Disagreeing with those claiming that India has succeeded in extracting a lot more in the bargain, Saran commented: “Our US interlocutors have been tough negotiators and the deal that we finalized on March 2, 2006 has been a fair one.”

"I hope that when the Congress examines this issue, they will have before them a vision of the scope and breadth of our possible relationship – one based on the congruence of principles and pragmatism that our Prime Minister has articulated – and will link that to the nuclear agreement,” Saran said.

If you go through the Indian Government's repeated assertions about voluntary moratorium on testing and the facts I ascertained from the Bill now lying in the Congress the non-testing of any atomic weapon in the future is the pre-requisite for the civilian nuclear agreement to go ahead. What version should we consider? See for yourself. I am posting the text of the Bill

To authorize the President to waive the application of certain requirements under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 with respect to India. (Introduced in Senate)

S 2429 IS

109th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 2429

To authorize the President to waive the application of certain requirements under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 with respect to India.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 16 (legislative day, MARCH 15), 2006

Mr. LUGAR (for himself, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. CRAPO, and Mrs. HUTCHISON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To authorize the President to waive the application of certain requirements under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 with respect to India.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. WAIVER AUTHORITY.

(a) Waiver Authority- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the President makes the determination described in subsection (b), the President may--

(1) exempt a proposed agreement for cooperation with India (arranged pursuant to section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153)) from the requirement in section 123(a)(2) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, and such agreement for cooperation shall be subject to the same congressional review procedures under sections 123(b) and 123(d) of such Act as an agreement for cooperation that has not been exempted from any requirement contained in section 123(a) of such Act;

(2) waive the application of section 128 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2157) with respect to India; and

(3) waive the application of any sanction under section 129 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2158) with respect to India.

(b) Determination- The determination referred to in subsection (a) is a determination by the President that the following actions have occurred:

(1) India has provided the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with a credible plan to separate civil and military facilities, materials, and programs, and has filed a declaration regarding its civil facilities with the IAEA.

(2) An agreement has entered into force between India and the IAEA requiring the application of safeguards in accordance with IAEA practices to India's civil nuclear facilities as declared in the plan described in paragraph (1).

(3) India and the IAEA are making satisfactory progress toward implementing an Additional Protocol that would apply to India's civil nuclear program.

(4) India is working with the United States for the conclusion of a multilateral Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty.

(5) India is supporting international efforts to prevent the spread of enrichment and reprocessing technology.

(6) India is ensuring that the necessary steps are being taken to secure nuclear materials and technology through the application of comprehensive export control legislation and regulations, and through harmonization and adherence to Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) guidelines.

(7) Supply to India by the United States under an agreement for cooperation arranged pursuant to section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 is consistent with United States participation in the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

(c) Report- Any determination pursuant to subsection (b) shall be reported to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives, and such report shall describe the basis for the President's determination.

(d) Subsequent Determination- A determination under subsection (b) shall not be effective if the President determines that India has detonated a nuclear explosive device after the date of enactment of this Act.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d109:49:./temp/~bdf2su::

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