Reuters AlertNet Lite - Changes urged in U.S.-India nuclear deal

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Changes urged in U.S.-India nuclear deal

14 Nov 2006 15:40:07 GMT
Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Arms control advocates on Tuesday urged changes in a U.S.-India nuclear cooperation agreement as the U.S. Senate prepared to resume action on the long-stalled deal.

The initiative, allowing nuclear-armed India access to U.S. nuclear fuel and reactors for the first time in three decades, is expected to be taken up by the Senate this week, possibly as early as Wednesday, Senate sources said.

The arms control advocates, in a letter to senators, said that without amendments, the proposed legislation "would have far-reaching and adverse effects on U.S. nonproliferation and security objectives," said the letter from the 18-member group.

It includes Robert Einhorn, a former assistant secretary of state for non-proliferation; former assistant secretary of defense Lawrence Korb; professor Frank von Hippel of Princeton University; Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association and John Isaacs of the Council for a Livable World.

They said that before nuclear cooperation begins, the United States should determine that India has stopped producing fissile material and that the civil nuclear trade does not in any way assist India's nuclear weapons program.

In addition, the United States should be able to halt cooperation if India tests a nuclear weapon, said the arms-control advocates.

The nuclear agreement has been hailed by President George W. Bush and others as the core of a new U.S. relationship with India after years of estrangement, and a financial boon to American business.

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the bill -- which changes U.S. law to allow for nuclear cooperation -- in July.

But despite more than a year of upbeat assessments by administration officials and the intervention of Bush and other top officials, the Republican-led Senate let the India bill languish when the congressional session ended last month.

Congress returned this week for a "lame duck" session after the Nov. 7 elections. If work on the India bill is not completed this year, the new Democrat-led Congress will have to start again when it takes office in January.

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Last updated:Tue Nov 14 15:42:06 2006