Blame NPT for votes against nuke bill

Among the five Congressmen who voted against the bill three were from the ruling Republicans — Chris Smith from New Jersey, James Leach from Iowa and Ted Poe from Texas — and two lawmakers were from the opposition Democrats — Barbara Lee and Diene E. Watson both from Watson.

Terming the passage of the bill by 37 votes to five as much beyond expectations of the Indian American community, which was lobbying for the deal, Swadesh Chatterjee said opposition to the bill came mainly from those lawmakers having a strong view on NPT or did not have any significant Indian-American population in their constituency.

Congresswoman Diene E. Watson, who voted against the bill, said one of the main reasons for her taking such a decision was her strong personal view that this bill would set wrong precedent and lead to proliferation of the nuclear weapons. Terming India as a ‘‘reliable steward’’ of nuclear technology, Watson said her concerns were beyond India. ‘‘I do not fear India with nuclear power. I do fear a world where both India and the US must face a nuclear Iran or a nuclear North Korea. Our key tool for constraining nuclear designs of Iran and North Korea has been Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, or NPT,’’ Watson told The Indian Express.

Watson said her main fear was that this legislation would damage the NPT to the point that we would make it harder to stop the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programmes.

Same was the case with Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Expressing concerns that the deal to share civilian nuke technology with India would undermine international non-proliferation efforts, Barbara Lee even moved an amendment, which required India to join the NPT as a precondition to receiving nuclear assistance from the US. It was defeated 36-4 with two Republicans, Chris Smith of New Jersey and Jim Leach of Iowa voting for the amendment.

Congressman Chris Smith from New Jersey is said to be a known face against India, who always brings in the issue of Dalits and human rights violations in India.

Though a proponent of strong relationship with India, Leach voted against the bill as he felt that it would harm NPT. Leach has been elected to House since 1976. Also the chairman of the Sub Committee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs and a member of the Committee on Financial Services, Leach had said at a House hearing in September last: ‘‘I don’t know any member of the Congress that doesn’t want to have a warming of relations with the Government of India…. I also don’t know many members of Congress who are pushing for the precise commitment that the administration has made.’’ Considered to be a moderate Republican, who has differed with President George Bush on Iraq, Leach instead had suggested that US support India for a permanent seat on the Security Council.

Draft Bill undermines India’s interests, says CPM

NEW DELHI: The CPI(M) said on Wednesday it had serious reservations on the US and India Nuclear Cooperation Promotion Act 2006 draft Bill presented before the US House International Relations Committee. In a politburo statement the party listed several points of concern and promised a ‘‘more substantive response’’ later. It called upon the UPA government ‘‘to uphold India’s sovereignty in all these matters and not deviate from its stated foreign policy commitments and positions under US pressure.’’ ‘‘The bill says the presidential waver will cease to be effective if India conducts a nuclear test. India’s unilateral moratorium on conducting nuclear tests cannot be subservient to such US conditionalities. India’s sovereignty on these matters cannot be compromised,’’ the statement said. The party is also irked about the clause that binds India to US moves against Iran. The party said the bill was forcing to comply with the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT), which India had in the past refused to sign on the grounds of it being discriminatory.

‘‘We applaud the passage of the Indian civilian nuclear cooperation legislation out of the House International Committee. The vote of 37 to 5 in favour shows a strong bipartisan support for the initiative negotiated during the President’s historic visit underscoring the new relationship with India. We look forward to House passage soon.’’
— A State Department official.

‘‘The vote reflects the robust bipartisan support for a deeper strategic partnership with India, a view which has been championed by the US industry, and which we find encouraging.
— Ron Somers, president, US-India Business Council