US Lawmakers Question Secretive US-India Nuclear Pact by P. Parameswaran

CIVIL NUCLEAR
US Lawmakers Question Secretive US-India Nuclear Pact

For the nuclear deal to be implemented, India should separate nuclear facilities for civilian and military use and set up a regime of international inspections to allay concerns that material and technology received are not diverted to boost its nuclear weapons arsenal.

by P. Parameswaran
Washington (AFP) July 25, 2007

US lawmakers have warned President George W. Bush of "inconsistencies" amid reports Washington has agreed in principle to allow India to reprocess spent nuclear fuel under a landmark deal. The warning came after US and Indian officials finalized last week the implementing agreement for Washington to provide nuclear technology and fuel to India under a deal agreed upon by Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh two years ago to highlight ties between the world's two biggest democracies.

Details of the so-called "123 agreement" has been kept under wraps but unconfirmed reports say the United States has agreed in principle to New Delhi's proposal to reprocess spent fuel in a dedicated national facility under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

But Washington reportedly is reluctant to provide such reprocessing technology to India, which has been under three decades of US sanctions for nuclear tests. Nor is India a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

US laws ban export of reprocessing technology as it can be used for military purposes but Washington has reportedly made exemptions for key Asian ally Japan, for example.

The letter from 23 members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday warned: "Any inconsistencies between the so-called 123 agreement and US laws would put final Congressional approval of the deal in doubt.

"If the 123 agreement has been intentionally negotiated to side-step or bypass the law and the will of Congress, final approval for this deal will be jeopardized," said Edward Markey, co-chairman of the House Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation.

Based on details of the finalized implementing agreement that had been leaked, "three or four significant issues could be in conflict with US laws," Daryl Kimball, executive director of the US Arms Control Association, told AFP.

They pertain to reprocessing and safeguards, he said.

The Indian Cabinet approved Wednesday the controversial agreement.

"All concerns of India have been reflected and have been adequately addressed," Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said after two cabinet committees both "approved the agreement."

The US State Department indicated that the Bush administration would consider the accord by the end of the week.

"I think the Indian government, based on discussions we had last week, are taking some positive steps," department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters, without divulging details of the agreement.

But he vowed that the United States was "not going to agree to anything that is not in the United States' national interest.

"In terms of, quote, "needing agreements" we're certainly not going to do anything that we believe is harmful to either our national security or foreign policy interests," he said.

The critical aspects of the deal are India's request to reprocess spent nuclear fuel, which Kimball said could be risky as not all Indian nuclear facilities would come under international safeguards.

India also wants assurances that Washington will continue to supply fuel for its atomic plants in the event New Delhi conducts further nuclear weapons tests.

For the nuclear deal to be implemented, India should separate nuclear facilities for civilian and military use and set up a regime of international inspections to allay concerns that material and technology received are not diverted to boost its nuclear weapons arsenal.

McCormack said once the implementation agreement was adopted by the two governments, the Indians also needed to sign an additional IAEA protocol and win approval from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group.

"I think once we have all these elements in place, we will go to the Congress with the full spectrum of what we are doing," he said. "That said, we are consulting every step along the way here with Congress, which is an important part of the process," he explained.

The Congress already approved the nuclear deal in principle last year and a bill to that effect was signed into law by Bush.

earlier related report
India's Cabinet approves nuclear cooperation deal with U.S.
New Delhi, July 25 (RIA Novosti) - The Indian government has approved a deal on technical details of a widely-publicized civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with the United States, the foreign minister said Wednesday.

U.S. and Indian negotiators said last Friday they had made significant progress on the agreement after four days of intensive negotiations in Washington and sent the document for a final review by the respective governments.

Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said after a government meeting that the agreement, which essentially puts an end to New Delhi's decade-long international isolation in the nuclear sphere, "takes into account all India's concerns."

The Cabinet now has to discuss the document details with left-wing and opposition parties before submitting it for parliament's approval.

Last year, U.S. Congress approved the Hyde Act, which allows the U.S. to supply civilian nuclear fuel to India, but talks to coordinate technical details on an overall cooperation plan have been dragging on for months without a breakthrough.

The two sides provided no details on the latest deal, but some media reports suggested that the U.S. promised uninterrupted supplies of fuel to 14 civilian nuclear plants in India, and accepted New Delhi's initiative to build a special storage for spent nuclear fuel in the country.

In exchange, India will allow experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, to inspect its civilian nuclear facilities, although its military reactors would reportedly remain off-limits.

The U.S. has been previously reluctant to allow India, which is not officially recognized as a nuclear power and has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to reprocess spent fuel using U.S. components, over concerns of its possible use for military purposes.

New Delhi conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1998.

The deal, if it goes through, would give India access to U.S. nuclear fuel and reactors, but the two countries still have to obtain approval from the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a conglomerate of countries that export nuclear material.

India also must reach a non-proliferation safeguard agreement with the IAEA.

Source: Agence France-Presse