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Influential US politician
warns India on support for Iran’s nuclear program
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NAM advocated
non-discriminatory rights for all nuclear non-proliferation treaty signatories
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Indo-US civilian nuclear deal
up for hearing on June 26
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A key extremist politician leading the US Congress International Relations
Committee warned India to act responsibly by not supporting Iran’s nuclear
ambitions and not to jeopardize Indo-US civilian nuclear deal up for
discussions in the Committee on June 27. The final vote in the US Congress is
expected in July.
US Congressman Tom Lantos was irked by India’s recent decision to endorse a
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) statement backing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which
was against the decision of United States and the UN Security Council members
had taken on Iran. Lantos was quoted saying "This is a very negative phenomenon
and I honestly hope there will be a great deal of care taken by our Indian
friends if they want this (nuclear cooperation agreement) to get through
Congress and become a reality." He said that it is difficult for him to
understand what other NAM states had in common with "the great democratic state
of India."
The NAM resolution ignored Western concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and
called for the rights, "without any discrimination," of all states to nuclear
research and energy production. What the NAM asked for is not necessarily wrong
or divergent from the tenets of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. However,
there is circumstantial evidence to suggest that Iran may have hidden nuclear
programs to make bombs and India feels that that
this program is not in India’s interest.
The Britain, France, and Germany have offered a package to Iran with the
blessings of the US, Russia, and China and the
issue seems easing a bit . However, Iran has been stalling the issue and
has reiterated its
right to enrich uranium under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
While it will be true to argue its right,
Iran has also hidden information on illegal procurements from Pakistan.
Lantos said the he proposes to fight “deal breakers” or amendments introduced
by other lawmakers considered unacceptable to India. However, he also said that
there may be "deal breakers" by India too and one of them could undoubtedly be
a "blanket endorsement of the Non-Aligned Movement's statements concerning
Iran."
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is also finalizing the legislation to
be sponsored by Chairman Richard Lugar and ranking Democrat Joe Biden but is
expected to pass the amendments. House and Senate committee staffs have yet to
make public the versions of the agreement they plan to put forward next week.
Some lawmakers declared they would offer amendments to the Bush
administration's original proposal and some of the ideas being thrown around
are:
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Requiring India stop producing fissile material compounds that could be used
to create nuclear energy for civilian or military use.
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Create a simple majority based approval or denial for a deal in the Congress.
Current administration proposal limits Congress to only being able to block the
actual treaty with a two-thirds vote.
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Unilaterally cancel the agreement if India tests a nuclear weapon or breaks
IAEA nuclear safeguards.
The second item is an internal tussle within the US and India has no role in
it. While India would agree to part of condition 3 dealing with maintaining
IAEA safeguards, it will not accept any of the conditions. There is virtual
consensus in India that it cannot be limited or constrained on its nuclear
program seen as a strategic lift for India.
Meanwhile, India is
exploring uranium deposits internally. If it does strike uranium in India,
it does not need any deals with any country.
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