IndiaPost.com - Bipartisan support as House approves N-deal with India

India Post News Service

WASHINGTON: As Wall Street rocked and rolled on its biggest decline in history, keeping Capitol Hill in tense long sessions; the long embattled "US/India Agreement for Cooperation on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy" passed with overwhelming Republican support by a vote of 298 to 117 last week. The legislation inched closer to becoming law in a "fast-track" journey into the US Senate for hearing and voting with only days left before Congress adjourns for the year.

"This is a momentous legislation, and the culmination of years of hard work and dedication by many, many people who were involved with the Indian American Friendship Council who supported this bill, as well as all those congress members on both sides of the aisle who have worked to improve relations between America and India," commented Dr Krishna Reddy, founder of the IAFC, from his office in Whittier. Reddy added that the US/India Nuclear deal not only represents energy to help India's great economic growth, but a bond of friendship between the two countries.

"Our efforts for the last 12 years have yielded both economic and security ties with America and India and the IAFC honors the bipartisan efforts of the Republican and Democratic leaders in congress along with the Bush Administration."

Those members of congress clearly came to the support of India on the House floor as the bill was passed. Champions supporting it in the House have included both Republicans and Democrats in the form of congress members Ed Royce, Ileana Ros-Lehtnen, Jim McDermott, Gary Ackerman, Joe Crowely, Frank Pallone, Shelly Berkley and Howard Berman.

With the backing of the Bush administration, the bill has found more Republican support than Democrat though ironically some of the strongest proponents of the bill have been Democrats. Resistance to the deal from various representatives often centers on concerns about India's relations with Iran, general anti-nuclear energy constituents in America, suspicion about India's position as a US ally, and general worry about the safety of nuclear development in South Asia where several countries, in India's neighborhood, are considered potential dangers such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, to name a few. Pallone, for example countered one Democrat's opposition to the bill saying: "I beg to disagree with my colleague from Massachusetts for several reasons.

First of all, this is not about Iran. India's entire history with regard to nuclear weapons has been defensive, completely defensive, not offensive in the way Iran speaks and its President speaks. In addition, India is very much like the United States. We know it's a democracy. We know there has always been very strict civilian control of its (India's) nuclear weapons.

This is really not about nuclear weapons at all. It's about a civilian nuclear agreement between the United States and India." Pallone went on to advocate that India, like the US, is looking to free itself from Middle East oil and needs sustainable clean energy to move forward as a nation. "By passing this agreement, basically we will be making India part of our partnership and saying that we will share civilian nuclear purposes. We will strengthen not only our own independence from Middle East oil; we will also strengthen India's.

And the bottom line is that there is only a history of cooperation between the United States and India. India has a strong record of trying to create a situation of nuclear nonproliferation. It has been a leader, in fact, on that. And this agreement is simply going to strengthen that even more. I think that we can trust India. And the fact that we are going to work and have this agreement passed tomorrow--and I know that it will pass and it will pass on a bipartisan basis--will simply strengthen the alliance between our two countries, which is so important to both countries' future."

New York Congressman Gary Ackerman, former chair of the India Caucus and a chair of the subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, echoed Pallone when he stated: "I rise in strong support of this bill because it will give congressional approval to civil nuclear cooperation with India. Let me tell you what that means. It means that the IAEA will be able to inspect two-thirds of India's civilian nuclear facilities because those facilities will be under IAEA safeguard and all future nuclear facilities will be under those safeguards.

"It means India for the first time ever has committed to MTOR guidelines. It means India for the first time ever will adhere to the Nuclear Suppliers Group. It means that we can send a clear message to nuclear rogue states about how to behave because it shows that responsible nuclear powers are welcomed by the International Community and not sanctions. It means we can establish a broad, deep and enduring strategic relationship with India that all of us in this House support." Finally Republican Ed Royce, who chaired the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans in the 107th Congress, and was instrumental in strengthening relations between the US and India and who in 2001 led the effort to lift sanctions against India, showed the bill is a bi-partisan outing by forcefully advocating for it:

"The time for Senate action is now, there is no time to waste. Failure to send the US-India civilian nuclear agreement to the President for his signature would be a big setback to the US-India relationship. Too many of us have worked far too hard to see that happen. Chairman Berman did the right thing in bringing this agreement to the House floor - but I'm surprised that over 100 Democrats opposed this critical deal," said Royce as he candidly pointed out that under the agreement, India separates its civil and military nuclear facilities, gives the IAEA increased access, and continues its unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. In addition, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an organization of 45 countries that seeks to control the spread of nuclear technology, has given the agreement its approval.

"The world is not standing still. France and Russia are moving ahead with civilian nuclear trade with India. The United States can't afford to be on the sidelines," concluded Royce on the House floor in support of the agreement. Dr Reddy mentioned that US Senators Steny Hoyer and Sharrod Brown are two members of the senate he is looking to support the final passage of the bill. With even presidential candidate Senator McCain touting that America needs to rediscover nuclear energy as a counter to Middle East oil dependency it is clear the Bush Administration is hoping this particular agreement will be one of its lingering legacies that perhaps one day will be better remembered than the current economic crises or the failures and successes of the Iraq war.