WASHINGTON, July 26: A congressional vote on the US plan to share nuclear technology with India was delayed on Wednesday following a last-ditch effort to attach conditions to the proposed deal. The debate in the US House of Representatives, which was scheduled to begin earlier, had not started till late afternoon. An approval vote for what is formally called “the United States and India Nuclear Cooperation Promotion Act of 2006” is expected later in the evening after the House navigates amendments and objections from critics wary of the deal.
A group of lawmakers made a last-ditch push to attach conditions to the plan that they said were needed to stop New Delhi from potentially boosting its nuclear arsenal and triggering an arms race in South Asia. One proposal suggested by lawmakers opposed to an unconditional deal with India would require New Delhi to decrease its nuclear stockpile and eventually eliminate all nuclear weapons. Another called for the US to restrict exports of nuclear fuel to India until President Bush became sure that New Delhi had stopped production of material that could be used to make nuclear bombs. The Bush administration, however, has warned that such amendments could cause the deal to collapse as India would not accept them.
The proposed deal was signed during President George W. Bush’s visit to New Delhi in March but needs congressional approval before it can be implemented.
