India received the assurances it was seeking when President George W Bush said New Delhi could count on nuclear fuel supplies and reprocess spent nuclear fuel
Says New Delhi can count on fuel supply, right to reprocess
NEW YORK: India received the assurances it was seeking when President George W Bush said New Delhi could count on nuclear fuel supplies and reprocess spent nuclear fuel while signing the US-India nuclear bill on Wednesday.
At a glittering White House signing ceremony, President Bush calmed India’s concerns over new riders tacked on to the Congressional legislation passed nearly a week ago in Washington that came in the way of US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee signing the 123 Agreement during Rice’s wasted round-the-world-trip to New Delhi over the weekend.
“The legislation does not change the terms of the 123 Agreement as I submitted it to the Congress,” said Bush in a statement before signing Bill HR 7081 into law. The bill was sent to him by Congress after clearing both the House and the Senate.
It is important to keep in mind that Bush had resorted to a similar signing statement to weave around “extraneous and prescriptive provisions” of the Hyde Act in December 2006 that were anathema for India.
“The Agreement grants India advance consent to reprocessing which will be brought into effect upon conclusion of arrangements and procedures for a dedicated reprocessing facility under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards,” Bush told the 200-strong crowd of diplomats, Indian Americans and US lawmakers who packed the East Room in the White House.
“In addition, the legislation does not change the reliable fuel supply commitments that the US government has made to the Government of India, as recorded in the 123 Agreement,” added Bush. This statement will also find its way into the Federal Register that records executive actions. US experts say American presidents often use signing statements to interpret a law the way they choose.
Rice and Mukherjee are expected to sign the overall bilateral nuclear cooperation accord on Friday.
Despite being a lame-duck president, Bush managed to squeeze the legislation out of Congress in its final days. The US Senate approved the deal in an 86-13 vote last week. The House of Representatives earlier passed the agreement by 298-117 votes.
“It is a big deal,” said Bush during Wednesday’s signing ceremony while acknowledging that the Indian nuclear deal had taken a lot of hard work in New Delhi and Washington.
“This agreement sends a signal to the world: Nations that follow the path to democracy and responsible behaviour will find a friend in the US,” said Bush.
He added: “Even though the United States and India are separated by half the globe, we are natural partners as we head into the 21st Century.”
The signing ceremony drew people who had relentlessly campaigned for the Indian nuclear deal on Capitol Hill and included Rice, Vice-President Dick Cheney, representatives from the American Jewish Committee, the US-India Business Council, former ambassador to India Robert Blackwill and Mumbai-born foreign policy expert Ashley Tellis. Congressmen Joe Crowley and Eliot Engel, Senators John Warner and Chris Dodd were also present.
Not surprisingly, the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation reacted to Bush’s statement by accusing the administration of “caving to Indian demands” and not heeding Congressional conditions.
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