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White House Open to Changes to India Deal
The White House could accept changes to its planned civilian nuclear technology cooperation deal with India in order to see it approved in Congress, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said yesterday (see GSN, May 22). “We’re trying to be understanding of congressional prerogatives and flexible in our approach provided that it results in really … moving the legislation forward,’ Boucher said in an interview with Reuters. “We haven’t quite reached closure yet on how that might happen, but we’re certainly open to suggestions from the Hill,” he added. The Bush administration hopes to see the agreement approved within the next two months, Boucher said. He called on New Delhi to respond officially to the U.S. draft of the plan. “The sooner they can get back to us, the sooner it helps move this along.” India has yet to conduct significant talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding monitoring of all civilian nuclear sites required by the deal, Reuters reported. There is talk among experts that the government in New Delhi, facing opposition to the deal at home, might be reconsidering the agreement. U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns is scheduled to discuss the plan with Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran this week in London. Burns plans to tell Saran that “we’ll continue to work with you. … We need to move forward together,” Boucher said. National security adviser Stephen Hadley is due to meet Wednesday for talks on the deal with senior members of the House International Relations Committee. Ranking committee Democrat Tom Lantos (Calif.) has devised a plan under which lawmakers would agree to support the plan but delay making the necessary changes to U.S. law until after Congress had studied the final agreement and the IAEA safeguards pact. “We understand there is significant sentiment in support [in Congress] of the concept Lantos put in his legislation (and) that others have other observations or conditions they’d like to insert,” Boucher said. “We’re trying to work with them” (Carol Giacomo, Reuters/AlertNet, May 23). The U.S.-Indian deal opens the door for similar offers to other countries, said Scott Sagan, director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation. “It will set a precedent for other similar deals including China and Pakistan,” Sagan said, according to the Press Trust of India. “That would be a serious setback for global security.” “Our goal should be to minimize the costs while keeping the benefits,” he added during a seminar organized by the PIR Center (Press Trust of India/Hindustan Times, May 22).
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