Finally after the 38 months of negotiations, the US Senate has approved the Nuclear Deal . This is truly a historic moment which coincides with Gandhiji’s birth anniversary as well as Eid celebrations in many parts of India.
Final approval came as the Senate voted to ratify the deal 86-13, sending the legislation to Bush to sign into law. The Senate’s move came just ahead of an expected trip to India this weekend by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The House of Representatives has already approved 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.
But critics say the deal does grave damage to global efforts to contain the spread of nuclear weapons, by letting India import nuclear fuel and technology even though it has tested nuclear weapons and never signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). India has a yawning energy deficit, and the accord opens up this market worth billions to American companies such as General Electric and Westinghouse Electric, a unit of Japan’s Toshiba Corp. Rice spent much of the past month in an all-out effort to persuade Congress to approve the pact, which the Bush administration says will transform the US-India relationship.
Bush wanted the deal approved before leaving office in January; Congress is expected to adjourn soon for elections. The accord enjoys bipartisan support in Congress, where many lawmakers favored it as a way to create jobs in the US civil nuclear industry while cultivating the small but affluent Indian-American community. Critics said the deal was deeply unwise, overturning decades of US policy of refusing to sell nuclear technology to nations lacking full safeguards against that technology’s diversion into nuclear weapons programs. "Why are we rushing to pass this gravely flawed agreement?" demanded Senator Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, before the vote. There was nothing in it, he said, to prevent India from resuming nuclear testing. India, which first detonated a nuclear device in 1974, last tested in 1998. The deal would also weaken US efforts to deny Iran a nuclear weapon, Harkin said. He said Indian entities already had sold sensitive missile technologies to Iran, which the Bush administration suspects is pursuing a nuclear bomb. But supporters said they expected India to move quickly to negotiate a new safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. "The benefits of this pact are designed to be a lasting incentive for India to abstain from further nuclear weapons tests and to cooperate closely with the United States in stopping proliferation," Indiana Republican Senator Richard Lugar said. Before approving the pact, the Senate rejected an amendment by Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, both Democrats, making clear that another Indian nuclear test would lead to termination of the deal. Lugar argued the amendment was unnecessary, saying India had been warned repeatedly that the consequences of another test would be "dire": US nuclear trade would be cut off.
The deal could open up around $27 billion in investments in 18-20 nuclear plants in India over the next 15 years, according to the Confederation of Indian Industry. But there is global competition. France announced on Tuesday that it had signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with India, and Russia is already building two 1,000 megawatt reactors in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Local media say India’s monopoly Nuclear Power Corp has tentatively picked four suppliers, including Westinghouse Electric and France’s Areva, for planned new projects. India is also reported to be negotiating with General Electric, Japan’s Hitachi Ltd and Russia’s atomic energy agency Rosatom. The U.S. Senate passed a landmark nuclear pact with India , opening the door for U.S. energy companies to enter India’s fast-growing market.
The agreement, which now only needs the signature of President Bush, will require India to allow international inspections of its nuclear facilities. The Bush administration has made the deal a top priority. It has also been working to end nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran in the final months of Mr. Bush’s term, though those efforts have run into roadblocks in recent weeks.
The Senate voted 86-13 to approve the treaty, in a vote held immediately before the chamber passed the $700 billion financial rescue package. President Bush issued a statement congratulating the Senate for passing the bill, and said he looked forward to signing it into law. "This legislation 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," he said.
India’s power-generation capacity is lagging far behind the country’s expanding energy needs. The economy has grown an average of 8.7% each year over the past five years. That trend, combined with rising incomes, has lifted electricity demand by 9% a year. Other countries have expressed interest in getting into the Indian market, and France concluded its own civilian-nuclear deal with India on Tuesday. For U.S. companies, the deal will open a multibillion-dollar market for the sale of everything from power-transmission equipment to airplanes. Suppliers of technology and equipment, including General Electric Co. and Westinghouse Electric Co., a unit of Toshiba Corp., hope to benefit from India’s nuclear-power plans.
General Electric built nuclear power plants in India in the 1960s and is interested in building new reactors there, as well as providing fuel and other services for new and existing reactors. General Electric said it has had "limited" discussions with Indian officials about the country’s energy plans.
Westinghouse Electric, based outside Pittsburgh, plans to build up to eight reactors in India for $5 billion to $7 billion each. It stepped up meetings with government and industry officials in India this year in anticipation of an agreement.
Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. have bid to sell 126 fighter jets to the Indian government, in a deal valued at $8 billion to $10 billion. The White House and State Department held last-minute negotiations over the past two weeks with key members of Congress to get the deal completed before the president leaves office. The House of Representatives approved the treaty, which was three years in the making, on Saturday.
The U.S. has sought to curb the spread of nuclear technologies globally. It has also tried to strengthen ties with India, which it sees as a potential counterweight to China. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has staked his government’s survival on the deal, which he argues is crucial for India’s energy needs.
Sen. Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, urged colleagues in the Senate to approve the deal, saying, "To have a good strong relationship with this country in this century will be of critical importance to our safety as a nation and to the safety of mankind."
Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, however, raised concerns that Mr. Bush failed to set sufficient safeguards against India testing nuclear weapons. Sen. Dorgan said the agreement hadn’t received adequate consideration by Congress and that it rewarded India for what he described as the nation’s defiance of international nonproliferation principles.
Mr. Bush and Mr. Singh met in Washington last week, when the two sides first hoped the agreement would be sealed. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office then, Mr. Bush said the deal had "taken a lot of work on both our parts." (sources; The Wall Street Journal)
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