US-India civil nuclear accord crosses another hurdle

Washington, June 30 (UNI) The US proposal to share nuclear fuel and technology with India as envisaged by President George W Bush crossed a second hurdle when it was approved with an overwhelming majority by a Senate panel on June 29 that could lead to a bolstering of strategic ties between the two countries.

With the sixteen-two vote by the eighteen-member Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the proposal now goes to the Senate floor for a vote probably later next month.

The House International Relations Committee passed a similar legislation on June 27 with a thumping majority of thirty-five- votes. Republican Senator Richard Lugar, Chairman of the Senate panel said the Committee's vote was a ''remarkable victory'' for both India and the United States.

Senator George V. Voinovich who co-sponsored a bill to authorize President Bush to conduct civil nuclear cooperation with India, remarked that ''India is a democractic country which functions with transparency and accountability. It has a 30-year record of responsible behaviour on non-proliferation matters and it is time that we embrace India as part of the non-proliferation community''.

Sen. Voinovich said, ''The United States has a lot to gain from expanding its strategic ties with India. I look forward to watching our friendship with India grow stronger in the coming years.'' Democrat Joseph Biden, the ranking member on the panel said, ''I view this agreement as much more consequential than the subject matter to which it pertains. When people look back on the U.S.-India relationship twenty-five or fifty years, I believe this will be marked as a historic moment, a stark and positive departure in that relationship. I'd rather begin that journey with seventy-five or ninety votes on the Senate floor than with fifty-one. And I believe the work we've done in reconciling different views gives us a chance to achieve that.'' Biden said,''In my view, this is a victory for the US-India relationship. It is a victory for the quest to move beyond fossil fuels. And it is a victory we have achieved while doing our best to maintain the global effort to end nuclear proliferation.

All the Republican members on the Senate panel voted for the measure, but the dissenting vote came from two Democrats - Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Barbara Boxer of California.

Democrat Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts said the accord paves the way for a ''historic shift -- a step forward in our relations with India, an important ally and a rising global power.

Sen. Paul Sarbanes, Democrat from Maryland, while strongly supporting the accord, also noted how the Indian American community had contributed to the economic and educational aspects of the US.

The Senate bill sets several conditions that must be met before India can be exempted from the nuclear export ban, including a requirement that the accord win support from the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a forty-five nation group that regulates global trade in nuclear technology and equipment.

The measure as passed by the panel gives Congress more say over the final version of the agreement than the Bush administration had proposed. Bush wanted the agreement to become effective within three months unless both houses of Congress voted against it and then voted to override a likely presidential veto, which requires a two-thirds majority. Under the pending legislation, however both the House and Senate would have to cast a ''yes'' vote before the agreement can become effective with a simple majority determining the outcome.

UNI XC SY BST1141