Sr Democrat Congressman Berman is playing up US concerns about how the pact rewards India for defying Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
NEW YORK: Senior Democrat Congressman Howard Berman has taken a stand against the nuclear deal by playing up nagging US concerns about how the pact rewards India for defying the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. “I challenge the assertion of the Bush administration that the agreement with India constitutes a strategic net-plus for non-proliferation,” he said in a widely televised debate.
He has announced that he will push for changes at the mark-up that will allow lawmakers a way out later if they don’t like the final deal. Some lawmakers want to rule out obscurity regarding the technical details in another India-US nuclear bilateral 123 Agreement. Berman thinks the Congress should have the authority to amend the agreement that India strikes with the global atomic watchdog.
The safeguards are still being negotiated between India and the International Atomic Energy Agency while moves to frame the 123 Agreement gathered pace in New Delhi this month after initially hitting a snag after India refused to accept a provision barring it from conducting atomic tests.
The House International Relations Committee is expected to start the arduous legislative mark-up process next Wednesday although advocates for the deal had earlier indicated that the ball might start rolling this week. “But it will not be a walk in the park as legislators want to make sure that critical US nonproliferation goals are met,” an advocate for the deal said on condition of anonymity. The Senate is also likely to follow suit in the end of June.
The Bush administration knows there is an urgent need for Congressional action as the protracted hearings in the two committees ended in May. Now the legislative mark-up process is important to keep the approval effort on track.
On a more pragmatic note, time is running out as there are just 50 working days before Congress adjourns this year.
What is most worrying for New Delhi is that American senators and representatives are likely to jump in at the legislative mark-up stage with a range of new proposals, ideas and amendments that could delay or even scuttle the deal. Reports have suggested this week that Committee chairman Henry Hyde, a senior Republican, does have some concerns and is studying ways to address those. Hyde, experts reveal will be introducing his own bill which will be the “Base Bill” on which amendments will be considered and voted upon next week.
Similarly, in the parallel Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the powerful Republican chairman of the panel Senator Richard Lugar and ranking Democrat Joseph Biden are said to be putting their heads together to come up with a draft legislation on which the panel can act quickly.
Lugar recently heaped generous praise on the Indian nuclear deal but this does not necessarily mean he will not ask for any changes at the mark-up stage.
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