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U.S. Senate clears nuclear deal

Washington: The India-U.S. nuclear deal on Thursday secured the approval of the U.S. Senate which overwhelmingly voted a bill rejecting all the killer amendments and paving the way for its implementation.

The landmark civil nuclear cooperation agreement, entered into between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and U.S. President George W. Bush in 2005, secured 86 votes while 13 Senators voted against it.

The U.S.-India Agreement for Cooperation Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy (123 Agreement) got bi-partisan support after the killer amendments, moved by two Democratic Senators, were turned down.

Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate Joe Biden, a strong supporter of India, also voted for the bill, which still contains a provision that would ensure cessation of U.S. nuclear cooperation in case New Delhi conducted a nuclear test.

Mr. Bush and Mr. Biden hailed the passage of the legislation, saying it would strengthen global nuclear non-proliferation efforts and help India increase its energy production.

The legislation, which has already been cleared by the House of Representatives , will now head to the White House for Mr. Bush signing it into a law.

With the Senate vote, the deal is now ready for being inked by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she arrives in New Delhi on Friday for her rescheduled trip with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The Senate approval marks the culmination of a rough journey the deal undertook in the last three years, especially in India with the Left parties withdrawing their support to the UPA government.

White House hopefuls, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, also voted for the bill.

In an apparent attempt to assuage the naysayers, Ms. Rice on Wednesday wrote to Senate majority leader Harry Reid, saying a nuclear test by India would result in the “most serious consequences,” including automatic cut-off of cooperation as well as a number of other sanctions. She said the U.S. believed that the Indian government would uphold the continuation of the nuclear testing moratorium it affirmed to the U.S. in 2005 and reiterated to the broader international community as recently as September 5, 2008.

The nuclear deal ended 34 years of nuclear apartheid against India when the Nuclear Suppliers Group granted, on September 6, a historic waiver of norms for nuclear commerce.

Following the waiver, France also signed an agreement with India for civil nuclear cooperation. — PTI

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