House warming

The expansive support 8212; more than three-fourths in a chamber of 435 8212; to the Indo-US nuclear deal from the House of Representatives in Washington surprised both the pros and the antis. The two biggest pros, the Bush administration that has put its domestic political capital on the line and the UPA government battling domestic critiques, have good reason to be pleased. The vote reflects the new bipartisan consensus in the US in favour of a deeper relationship with India and sets the tone for the more demanding debate in the Senate, the upper house of the US Congress.

The non-proliferation lobby in Washington backed by a section of liberal Democrats hadn8217;t given up till the very end. A number of killer amendments, including one that demanded a certification from the president on Indian cooperation to isolate and sanction Iran and another that sought to constrain the production of material for nuclear weapons, were debated. Their defeat by handsome margins should tell our MPs that many objections being articulated by lawmakers here have been addressed and defeated by the US lower house.

The nuclear deal still has some way to go, even after a positive Senate vote. The two houses will reconcile the two versions of the legislation they passed. Only then can the US president sign it into a new law. India has some problems with the language in the Senate version and these have been conveyed to the Bush administration at the highest levels in recent weeks. Until we see the final legislative product that emerges out of the current 8220;work in progress8221;, there is no reason for our Parliament to either lose sleep or get on the high rhetorical horse. After all, we are witnessing a genuine attempt in the US to change three-decade-old domestic and international nuclear law for the benefit of just one nation 8212;

India. As Parliament debates the nuclear deal, this important fact should not be forgotten. The political focus, instead, should be on finding the best possible ways to support the US government8217;s effort to keep the final nuclear legislation within the four corners of the July 18 nuclear statement signed by Manmohan Singh and George Bush.