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U.S., India Differ on Nuclear Agreement
U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns left India this weekend without reaching an agreement on how to implement the planned U.S.-Indian nuclear technology sharing pact, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Feb. 24). “There are differences remaining,” said U.S. Embassy spokesman David Kennedy. “But the U.S. hopes they can close them before President [George W.] Bush visits India” later this week. The Indian Foreign Ministry in a statement said the talks are moving forward. “The two sides had detailed and productive discussions. There was greater clarity on the issues under discussion. Progress has been made in the talks,” the Foreign Ministry said (Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, Feb. 25). However, U.S. national security adviser Stephen Hadley said that the deal might not be finalized before the president arrives Wednesday, Reuters reported. “It's taking time to work through. And, again, we're trying to see if we can use the visit as a forcing function. If we can, great. If not, we'll continue to work on it after the visit’s over,” he said. Hadley said lack of finality on the deal would not detract from the president’s trip. Bush, in an interview with Indian television, said the deal was a “tough issue” for both countries. “I understood the politics was going to be difficult, and there’s still work to be done. We’ve just got to continue to come up with an agreement that both of us can live with,” he said (Holland/Zakaria, Reuters, Feb. 25). Indian Prime Minister Singh is expected to clarify his policy on the deal in a speech today before the Indian parliament, Agence France-Presse reported. Indian officials said Singh is likely to deny that New Delhi will offer to curb its nuclear program. “Singh is likely to state categorically that the deal has nothing to do with India’s strategic program, and that India would reserve the right to build more military (nuclear) plants,” an official said. The prime minister’s message will be, “No cap, rollback,” the official added (Agence France-Presse II/Yahoo!News, Feb. 27). U.S. Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who has introduced legislation to stop the deal, said the agreement undermines nonproliferation efforts, Knight Ridder reported yesterday. “America cannot credibly preach nuclear temperance from a bar stool,” Markey said. “We can't tell Iran, a country that has signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, that they can't have enrichment technologies while simultaneously carving out a special exemption from nuclear proliferation laws for India, a nation that has refused to sign the treaty” (Ron Hutcheson, Knight Ridder/Monterey County Herald, Feb. 26).
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