After the election last week, in which Democrats took over control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, many people (including much of the Indian press) were running around screaming “the sky is falling.” What would this mean for the precious India-U.S. nuclear deal? Let’s take a look at the reality behind the hype. Outlook India reports today:
The United States Senate is expected to debate and vote this week on a bill that would permit civilian nuclear cooperation with India.
Congressional and diplomatic sources told this correspondent the long-awaited vote could take place on Wednesday or Thursday. The United States Congress commenced its lame-duck session on Monday and the U.S.-India nuclear deal features prominently on the agenda…On Monday, both Republicans as well as Democrats indicated their intention to take up the India nuclear deal in the lame duck session. But before that they will vote on a bill that makes permanent trade relations with Vietnam.
In his remarks Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican, said, “This week, the Senate agenda will focus on completing the remaining appropriations bills. And in the days and weeks ahead, we’ll also need to consider the nomination of Bob Gates as Secretary of Defence, Vietnam trade legislation, and the U.S.– India civilian nuclear technology bill, among others.”
Mr. Frist’s Democratic counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, said, “We have our mind on concluding the appropriations bills and the very important nuclear agreement with the largest democracy in the world, India… [Link]
So the Democrat and Republican leadership are both on record as supporting this bill but both seem like they have a lot of domestic items on their plate they need to first take care of in the lame duck session, especially since Bush is fleeing going on a long trip to Asia in a few days. Not so fast though. Many arms control experts are recommending changes to the bill before it gets approved:
Arms control advocates urged changes in a U.S.-India nuclear cooperation agreement on Tuesday as the U.S. Senate prepared to resume action on the long-stalled deal…Continue reading…Meanwhile, a new report by the Congressional Research Service, which examines issues for Congress, found that while India does not want Iran to have nuclear weapons, New Delhi’s “views of the Iranian threat and appropriate responses (to that threat) differ significantly from U.S. views…” [Link]