US lawmakers concerned about Indo-US nuke deal

Washington, Nov 15 (UNI) Congressional leaders have requested a secret intelligence assessment of India's nuclear programme and its government's ties to Iran in January amid concerns about a White House effort to provide nuclear technology to New Delhi, a media report said today.

The Washington Post newspaper quoting Congressional and intelligence sources said at as the Senate prepares to vote on uclear trade with India, the intelligence assessment is yet to be seen on Capitol Hill.

The pending nuclear deal with India would reverse years of US policies aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. US law forbids selling civilian nuclear technology to countries such as India that have refused to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the report said.

For the Bush administration, the daily points out, the deal is part of a strategy to accelerate India's rise as a regional counterweight to China.

Officials have argued that a nuclear arsenal in the hands of democratic India, which conducted its first nuclear test in 1974, would not be a threat to the United States.

The daily says the White House wants legislation for the deal approved by the lame-duck Congress and is hoping the Senate will vote on it by Friday.

The bill would carve out an India-specific exception to long-standing laws that forbid nuclear trade with countries that have not signed the NPT.

Senator Harry M Reid who will become majority leader when Democrats take control of the Senate in January, has said that he wants the India bill to come up before the current Congress ends in December.

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