Cong puts off N-deal debate by a day

Washington: The debate on the Indo-US nuclear deal is down to the wire yet again with the Congressional vote on the bill postponed till Friday after a pitched debate and mounting suspense.

The postponement has made the next 24 hours extremely crucial for the deal. There’s just one day left for the Congress Session to end and if the deal is not passed in the current session, all hopes will hinge on a lameduck session that may be held after the November presidential elections.

However, there’s hope and a big achievement too. The biggest critic of the deal, Congressman Howard Berman, is now coming around to being a supporter.

Berman is the Head of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He proposed a deal-breaker bill that called for economic sanctions on Iran, something that India wouldn't have agreed to.

After a lot of drama and suspense, Berman introduced the bill which was almost identical to the one that was overwhelmingly adopted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with a rider that all nuclear assistance to India would cease if New Delhi conducts a test.

He said, though his bill was different from the one approved by the Senate committee, it was consistent with the provisions of the Hyde Act. But after a lot of persuasion, Berman relented and the controversial provision was dropped. He said, “This India legislation includes provisions to improve Congressional oversight of the India nuclear cooperation agreement and help ensure that the agreement¶is interpreted in a manner consistent with the constraints in the Hyde Act. I will therefore vote in support of this Agreement.”

The US Ambasssador to India David Mulford said the significance of India-US relations was reiterated after Congress took up the deal, despite the domestic economic crisis.

“It is tribute to the Congress that despite their preoccupation at the moment with the US financial crises that you see all the time on TV, nevertheless the Congress has focused on civil nuclear (deal) and has been moving it forward. So it's a very positive statement about the strength of the US-India relationship,” he said.

Suspense mounted over Thursday night over an early Congressional nod just ahead of the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W Bush at the White House.

The Senate legislation -- that comes with a rider which will prevent the transfer of nuclear equipment, materials or technology from the NSG countries or any other source in the event of New Delhi conducting a test -- was introduced in the House of Representatives by ranking Republican in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Florida Congresswoman Ileana

Ros-Lehtinen.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)

#Indo-US nuclear deal #US Congress #Manmohan Singh #George W Bush