tagged w/ Nuclear Deals
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate on Wednesday voted to overturn a three-decade ban on atomic trade with India, giving final congressional approval to a landmark U.S.-India nuclear cooperation accord and handing President Bush a rare foreign policy victory in his final months in office.
The accord, which the Senate passed 86-13, will allow American businesses to begin selling nuclear fuel, technology and reactors to India in exchange for safeguards and U.N. inspections at India's civilian, but not military, nuclear plants. The pact, which the House approved Saturday, marks a major shift in U.S. policy toward nuclear-armed India after decades of mutual wariness.
It now goes to Bush for his signature.
Bush hailed the Senate's vote, saying in a statement that the legislation approving the accord "will strengthen our global nuclear nonproliferation efforts, protect the environment, create jobs and assist India in meeting its growing energy needs in a responsible manner."
Congressional approval caps an aggressive three-year diplomatic and political push by the Bush administration, which portrays the pact as the cornerstone of new ties with a democratic Asian power that long has maintained what administration officials consider a responsible nuclear program. Administration officials also have championed the opportunities for U.S. companies to do business in India's multibillion-dollar nuclear market.
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said the pact protects U.S. national security and nonproliferation efforts while building "a strategic partnership with a nation that shares our democratic values and will exert increasing influence on the world stage."
"With a well-educated middle class that is larger than the entire U.S. population, India can be an anchor of stability in Asia and an engine of global economic growth," Lugar said.
Opponents say lawmakers, eager to leave Washington to campaign for the November elections, rushed consideration of a complicated deal that they said could spark a nuclear arms race in Asia. The extra fuel the measure provides, they say, could boost India's nuclear bomb stockpile by freeing up its domestic fuel for weapons.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said the accord "will almost certainly expand the production of nuclear weapons by India" and help dismantle the architecture of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the global agreement that provides civilian nuclear trade in exchange for a pledge from nations not to pursue nuclear weapons.WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate on Wednesday voted to overturn a three-decade ban on... more
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India and France have signed a major co-operation pact which paves the way for the sale of French nuclear reactors to Delhi, officials say.
The nuclear accord was agreed in Paris between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Nicolas Sarkozy. The deal "will form the basis for enlarged bilateral co-operation in the fields of energy and research", the French presidency said in a statement. France is a leading world exporter of civilian nuclear technology.
The two leaders made no public comment after signing the deal. But a French presidential aide said that that "today we are at the intergovernmental stage, and after that the industrialists will begin their co-operation". Tuesday's signing comes after India and France agreed a Framework Agreement for Civil Nuclear Co-operation in January.
Reports say the deal includes providing India with France's latest model of the European Pressurised Reactor as well as other civilian nuclear material. Correspondents say that the deal is good news for India - which is desperately short of energy to fuel its booming economy - and places it firmly as a world nuclear power.
The deal in effect ends a ban which prevented countries from engaging in civilian nuclear trade with Delhi. The ban was imposed in 1974 when India used its civilian programme to produce and successfully test an atomic bomb. France is the world's second largest producer of nuclear energy after the United States.
(continues at link)India and France have signed a major co-operation pact which paves the way for the... more
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday approved an agreement to end the three-decade ban on U.S. nuclear trade with India and the top U.S. senator was upbeat about passage in the Senate.
The agreement passed the House by a margin of 298-117 and the Democrats who control the Senate hope to bring it to a vote there within days despite the opposition of some in their own party, congressional aides said.
U.S. congressional blessing is the last hurdle to the pact, which the Bush administration believes will secure a strategic partnership with the world's largest democracy, help India meet its rising energy demand and open up a market worth billions.
President George W. Bush said in a statement that House passage of the legislation was "another major step forward in achieving the transformation of the U.S.-India relationship."
He urged the Senate to approve it quickly so he could sign it into law. "Signing this bipartisan bill will help strengthen our partnership with India," Bush said.
Critics argue the deal undermines efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and sets a precedent allowing other nations to seek to buy such technology without submitting to the full range of global nonproliferation safeguards.
The agreement has drawn criticism from nonproliferation advocates because India has shunned the Nonproliferation Treaty meant to stop the spread and production of nuclear weapons as well as a companion international pact banning nuclear tests.
In the Senate, a vote has been held up by the objections of some Democrats, said congressional aides who declined to name those blocking a vote. Continued...WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday approved an... more
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Even in the cacophony of Indian politics, there is one thing that everyone seems to agree on: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has absolute faith in his country's controversial civilian nuclear deal with the U.S. So unshakable is his commitment to the agreement, which would give India access to U.S. technology to help slake India's soaring demand for electricity, that Singh has bet his political future on it. "It's completely personal for him," says Prem Shankar Jha, a columnist for New Delhi's Outlook magazine. "The Prime Minister is determined to do this."
On July 22, Singh will find out whether his gamble has paid off — or if it has cost him his four-year-old administration. That's the date when Singh's centrist Congress Party faces a vote of confidence on the floor of Parliament, a vote brought about by the recent exit from Singh's coalition government of the country's two main leftist parties, which bolted in protest over the nuclear deal. Even if Singh manages to rally enough supporters to retain a majority and stay in office, there could be lasting fallout. In parliamentary elections expected to be held early next year, Singh's Congress Party colleagues could find themselves targeted by an angry electorate for putting so much effort into foreign policy while India's citizens face an economic slowdown and the worst inflation the country has seen in 13 years.
The agreement that has caused so much turmoil in Indian politics — and so much trouble for Singh — is a version of a pact that the U.S. has signed with more than a dozen other nations. It would open up nuclear-materials trade between the U.S. and India, with the proviso that some of India's nuclear reactors be open to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency. That's a big concession for India, which withstood international sanctions and withering criticism after its 1998 nuclear weapons tests and has chafed ever since at the idea of submitting its nuclear program to any outside review. But the country needs clean energy, and signing the agreement would be a first step toward joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) — the club of 45 nations committed to both nuclear energy and nonproliferation. With U.S. backing, the NSG may allow India to join even though the country has not signed the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Even in the cacophony of Indian politics, there is one thing that everyone seems to... more
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