Tags:
Journalism of Courage
As the nuclear Bill is scheduled to come up for the crucial Mark Up in foreign relations committees of both houses of the Congress, the week is considered to be critical for the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement.
Discussions and decisions to be made during the Mark Up process at House Committee on International Relations on June 27 and the next day at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, experts believe, would shape the destiny of the historic agreement between the two countries. ‘‘The Mark Up is the most important and crucial event. It will decide the fate of the Bill,” Swadesh Chatterjee, the Indian-American who is leading the nuke-deal campaign from the front, told The Indian Express. Chatterjee, who was awarded the Padmabhushan in 2002 for bettering Indo-US relationship, said the Mark Up would decide the exact text of the Bill which would land on the floor of the House.
Proponents of the Bill like Chatterjee, the US corporate world and Bush administration officials are confident that the Mark Up procedure would go through smoothly, thus leading to a positive voting on the floor of the House in mid-July.
Addressing the USIBC annual meet on June 22, Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns was hopeful that the Bill would be through by mid-July. However, the opponents are still trying their best to bring in amendments during the Mark Up process that would not be acceptable either to India or the administration. So the stakes are very high, he said. ‘‘We want the Bill to be voted before summer recess,’’ Ron Somers, the USIBC president told The Indian Express. After this period, it would be difficult to get the Bill passed due to the coming elections. Referring to the draft bill – released by the House International Relations Committee for the Mark Up – Somers was hopeful that this would satisfy a large bipartisan majority.
‘‘It would guarantee that the US act in tandem with the Nuclear Suppliers Group, by which India would continue its moratorium on nuclear testing and add IAEA safeguards to its civilian facilities, and that India’s export controls satisfy international standards,’’ he said.
‘‘The draft bill rightly reflects Vice-President Richard Bruce Cheney’s apt observation that India has been a responsible non-proliferation player, and excludes nuclear civil co-operation for non-proliferation scofflaws like Iran,’’ Somers said.
Meanwhile, the Bush Administration has intensified its effort to garner support for the Bill and ensure that it is passed as desired. The White House too has been making a lot of calls and meetings with senior Congressmen so as to make foolproof arrangements.
