Bush has 20 days for N-deal

NEW YORK: The Bush administration has little time to celebrate the hard-earned diplomatic victory in Vienna. The NSG waiver allowing sharing of nuclear fuel and technology with New Delhi is not enough. The US Congress must ratify the 123 agreement as soon as possible to boost America’s business interests, believed to be at the heart of nuclear cooperation with India.

The Congress, which starts its new session on Monday, adjourns on September 26 for the November presidential elections. Team Bush wants the landmark deal to be ratified before the Congress goes into the recess.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she would speak this week with the leaders of several congressional committees to push for the deal’s approval.
“We understand the calendar is short. We will just have to see whether it is possible for the Congress,” Rice told reporters travelling with her on a tour of North Africa over the weekend.

“The main thing is that the international work is now done. I don’t think most people thought we were going to be able to get this through the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) this weekend.”

America’s top diplomat said she had talked with heads of 12 Congressional committees in the run-up to the NSG decision and would again make the case for assisting India.
“I’ll have those conversations again, most likely Monday or Tuesday, as well as trying to see whether the leadership believes that this can go forward,” she said.  

During the passage of the Hyde Act the US Congress had agreed not to amend anything in the 123 Agreement, but to submit it to a straight “up or down” vote.

House of Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman, a California Democrat, has indicated that the Congress might not have enough time to fully vet and pass the nuclear accord before the current legislative session ends. This means that the nuclear deal could be passed on to a new US Congress next year.

However, India’s friend Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and now Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s running mate, has pledged to push the nuclear deal in the Congress “like the devil.” He is expected to do his part despite being caught up in the election campaign.

$100 billion pie will help India’s cause : With more than $100 billion trade at stake, the nuclear deal is likely to get overwhelming support from the US industry, which will do its part to see it through Congress.

Ron Somers, president of the US-India Business Council said the US industry will be “front and centre” in advocating the deal. The council issued a statement indicating there was “overwhelming bipartisan” support for the deal by citing votes of 359-68 in the House and 85-12 in the Senate at the end of its session in 2006 to approve the Hyde Act.

After the NSG waiver, a humming civilian nuclear energy industry in India has become a real possibility. It’s an idea that excites global companies that construct and manage nuclear energy plants. India is likely to spend over $100 billion to expand its national power capacity over the next 20 years.

This message is unlikely to be lost on Congress. At an estimated $2.5 billion per 1,000 megawatts, the nearly 30 new reactors India will commission could mean windfall business for US companies like GE Energy, Thorium Power and Westinghouse Electric.
India also needs advanced US technology to best use thorium, a silvery metal which has been considered an alternative nuclear fuel to scarce and expensive uranium. Due to years of nuclear isolation and lack of domestic uranium, Indian scientists have worked hard at tapping India’s abundant thorium reserves.

According to experts, global reserves of thorium — in India, Australia, Norway and the US (largest reserves) — could cover the world’s energy needs for thousands of years. This means India will be able to do business with the cliquish club of international nuclear technology suppliers.

“There is a strong interest in potentially working together once the 123 Agreement for civil nuclear cooperation is completed, which looks like it will be in the relatively near term,” Seth Grae, president and CEO of Thorium Power, a specialist in developing and testing proliferation-proof nuclear fuel based on thorium, told DNA.