India Nuclear Pact Legal in U.S., Says Burns

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said yesterday that an agreed draft nuclear trade agreement with India would not require any changes to U.S. nonproliferation laws, Reuters reported (see GSN, July 25).

“We’re very satisfied because we know the agreement is well within the bounds of the Hyde Act,” Burns said, referring to the December legislation that exempted India from most U.S. nuclear nonproliferation laws.  He spoke to reporters after testifying to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 

The law allows the United States to sell nuclear material and technology to India despite New Delhi’s refusal to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.  Indian leaders have objected to some of the terms of the law, including a prohibition on Indian nuclear testing and blocking access to U.S. nuclear technology and materials should the deal be violated.

The draft “123 agreement” meets many long-standing demands of Indian officials and would extend nuclear rights to India that are now limited to Japan and the European Union, according to experts and congressional sources.  The Bush administration is expected tomorrow to release details of the agreement, which addresses technical details of nuclear cooperation and must be approved by Congress.

Some observers have questioned Burns’ assertion that the deal met the Hyde Act standards.

“The administration is going to call this a success even though from policy and legal perspectives, there are major problems,” said an anonymous congressional source. 

While Washington might demand the return of its nuclear fuel and technology following an Indian nuclear test, it might continue to help New Delhi acquire fuel elsewhere, a congressional source indicated.  Extended talks with India would also be necessary for the United States to cut off nuclear trade.

Congress is not likely to decide on the matter this year, preferring to wait for India to agree to an International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards plan over the nation’s civilian nuclear sites.  Congress would also wait for the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group to modify its trade guidelines that currently bar nuclear sales to non-NPT nations that do not allow IAEA oversight at all their nuclear sites, a congressional source said.

Twenty-two U.S. lawmakers, some who backed the deal, said in a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush that a 123 agreement failing to comply with the Hyde Act would place “congressional approval deeply into doubt.”

“These conditions and restrictions are not optional nor are they advisory.  They were passed by Congress and signed by the president,” said Representative Edward Markey (D.-Mass.), who organized the letter.  “If the 123 agreement has been intentionally negotiated to sidestep or bypass the law and the will of Congress, final approval of the deal will be jeopardized” (Reuters/New York Times, July 26).

U.S. negotiators gave a major concession to Indian officials in meetings last week when they agreed to help New Delhi secure nuclear fuel from suppliers such as the United Kingdom and Russia if the United States cuts off its own supply, the Washington Times reported today.

The draft deal last year “intended that the United States should not provide India with a multiyear fuel supply that could be used to carry it through the suspension of international supplies due to resumption of nuclear testing,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association.

“In other words,” he said, “the administration is saying that if the U.S. felt compelled to cut off cooperation because India violated the agreement, we'll help others circumvent our policies to supply India with fuel” (Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times, July 26).

The State Department said yesterday that the Bush administration would consider the draft agreement by the end of this week.

“I think the Indian government, based on discussions we had last week, are taking some positive steps,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters (P. Parameswaran, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, July 25).

Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said his government would consider selling uranium to India for energy purposes if New Delhi agrees to IAEA inspections, the Australian Associated Press reported today.

“In these circumstances it is a possibility that we would begin negotiations with India over supplying uranium to power stations which were subject to United Nations inspections and to the regime of the international atomic agency,” Downer told reporters.

“But we haven’t made any final decision about this,” he said. “It is still something that we are considering and we certainly will have to wait and see what the conclusion is of negotiations between India and America” (Australian Associated Press/News.com.au, July 26).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.