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Congress Might Put Conditions on Indian-U.S. Nuclear Technology Sharing Agreement
A U.S. lawmaker said yesterday that Congress might put conditions on the nuclear technology sharing agreement between India and the United States before approving it, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 13). “This is a complex agreement with profound implications for U.S. and global interests. Congress will need to take a close look at its many provisions in order to come to an informed decision,” said House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.). Hyde discussed the deal last week with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, according to AFP. The White House is pushing for India to be exempted from the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, which bars sales of nuclear technology to countries that are not party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. India, which has refused to sign the treaty, has developed nuclear arms independently. Hyde, along with Representative Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), has agreed to introduce the legislation necessary to implement the bill. Hyde indicated that there might be unspecified conditions that need to be met if it is to be approved. Hearings on the matter are expected later this month, according to a statement issued by Lantos and Hyde. “The issues involved are complicated and technical, and it will take some time for Congress to absorb them as we move the agreement to fruition,” Lantos said. “I view the new strategic alliance between the world’s oldest and largest democracies as a breakthrough, but all members of Congress will undoubtedly wish to see the details of the agreement before deciding how to vote,” he added (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 14). Meanwhile, a State Department official said Russia intends to sell nuclear fuel to India for its Tarapur reactor, the Associated Press reported. Critics warn that the move could indicate a trend toward selling nuclear-related materials outside the boundaries of international treaties. “This is the first salvo," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association. “China could be next in trying to propose a similar loophole for Pakistan.” The State Department official said the Russia sale had nothing to do with the agreement between the United States and India. The official said India’s supply of nuclear fuel was limited and needs to be increased to provide power. “A serious need exists independent of the U.S.-India arrangement,” the official said. The official said Moscow indicated that it would ship 60 metric tons of fuel to India. Russia believes the sale is acceptable under Nuclear Suppliers Group regulations. Russia drew sharp criticism from the United States and the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2001 for shipping 58 metric tons of fuel to India. The group’s guidelines allow exports to countries without International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards only if the shipment is needed to prevent or correct “a radiological hazard to public health and safety which cannot reasonably be met by other means.” The State Department official called Russia’s justification of the sale — that it is “safety related” — “at best arguable.” The United State hoped that by entering into the sharing agreement, it would become the major nuclear trading partner to India, said Jon Wolfsthal, a nonproliferation analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “To assume that the United States would be the only country competing for a potentially lucrative cut of the Indian budget is naive. If the United States is going to put business before nonproliferation priorities, then other countries are going to do the same,” he said (Foster Klug, Associated Press/Express India, March 14).
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