Washington, July 26: US lawmakers have warned Bush
administration of "inconsistencies" in the 123 agreement after
reports that Washington has agreed to allow India to reprocess
spent nuclear fuel under civilian nuclear deal with New Delhi.
The warning came after the agreement between the US
and India was finalised in extended talks in Washington last
week.
In a letter to President George W Bush, as many as 23
Congressmen-led by Democratic lawmaker Edward Markey expressed
their concern that perhaps Washington may have "capitulated"
to India's demands on the agreement.
The Congress passed the Hyde Act less than a year ago,
settling minimum conditions that must be met for nuclear
cooperation with India, as well as the non-negotiable
restrictions on such cooperation, Merky said.
Stating that these conditions and restrictions were
not optional or advisory, Markey warned "If the 123 agreement
has been intentionally negotiated to side-step or bypass the
law and the will of Congress, final approval for this deal
will be jeopardised."
In the letter, the lawmakers stressed "the necessity
of abiding by the legal boundaries set by Congress" for
nuclear cooperation.
"The agreement for nuclear cooperation is subject to
the approval of Congress, and any inconsistencies between the
agreement and the relevant us laws will call congressional
approval deeply into doubt," lawmakers told the White House.
They also picked upon India's growing economic and
military ties to Iran as a factor which could imperil
Congressional approval of the deal.
Among the bipartisan cosigners were Howard Berman
(senior member of the foreign affairs committee), Brad Sherman
(chairman of the terrorism, nonproliferation, and trade
subcommittee), Dan Burton (senior member of the foreign
affairs committee), Ellen Tauscher (chairwoman of the
strategic forces subcommittee), Jeff Fortenberry and Henry
Waxman (chairman of the oversight and government reform
committee), and republican Jane Harman (chairwoman of the
intelligence subcommittee).
"The President cannot re-write laws during a
closed-door negotiation session with a foreign government.
Though some of us disagreed during last year's debate over
nuclear cooperation with India, all of us are intent on
defending the prerogatives of Congress and reinforcing that
the law must be followed without exceptions," Markey said in a
statement.
The Bush administration has to get congressional
approval on the bilateral deal before any nuclear cooperation
can commence between the US and India.
The remaining steps include India negotiating a
safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy
Agency, and the US obtaining consensus agreement from the
nuclear suppliers group to change its guidelines to allow
transfers to India.
Bureau Report