India deal should not be okayed unconditionally: US body’s advice to Congress
By Our Correspondent
WASHINGTON, June 7: The US Congress should refuse to pass final legislation enabling nuclear cooperation with India until it is satisfied that all its conditions are met, says a new report by the prestigious US Council on Foreign Relations.
The report — US-India Cooperation: A Strategy for Moving Forward — urges Congress to issue a set of bottom-line requirements for the formal US-India nuclear cooperation agreement signed during President George W. Bush’s visit to New Delhi in March.
The Congressional guidelines for approving the deal should cover India’s agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency for allowing international inspection of its nuclear facilities, the report says.
The so-called bottom-line requirements should also include new rules for the 45-nation National Suppliers Group that would allow nuclear commerce with India.
Without NSG’s endorsement, the US cannot sell nuclear reactors to India despite the bilateral agreement for selling civilian nuclear reactors to New Delhi.
The Congress should enforce these guidelines “by refusing to pass final legislation enabling nuclear cooperation until those other agreements are in place and are satisfactory”, the report adds
The US Congress needs to change certain anti-proliferation laws and lift sanctions imposed on India after the 1998 nuclear tests before the Indo-US nuclear deal could be implemented.
The administration has already introduced a bill seeking these legislative changes.
The report urges Congress to adopt a two-stage approach towards the deal for nuclear cooperation with India, formally endorsing the accord’s basic framework, while delaying final approval until it is assured that critical nonproliferation needs are met,
Authors Michael A. Levi and Charles D. Ferguson, both council fellows for science and technology, advise the Congress to ‘reserve the bulk of its political capital for a handful of top-tier objectives’.
They urge Congress to focus on preventing Indian nuclear testing, and fundamental changes in Indian nuclear strategy, rather than on blocking simple growth in the Indian nuclear stockpile.
“Congress should prioritise obtaining cooperation — not only from India — in controlling the spread of sensitive nuclear technologies, over measures that would shape the development on nuclear technology in India itself.”
