Bush to sign nuke bill on Monday

WASHINGTON: The landmark legislation to implement the Indo-US civil nuclear deal will be signed into law by President George W Bush at the White House on Monday, 18 months after the ball was set rolling.

The ceremony is set for 9.15 p.m. IST and will be attended by several lawmakers, senior administration officials and leaders and members of the Indian American community, many of whom will travel here from different parts of the country.

Bush is expected to make brief remarks before putting his signature to HR 5682 or the Henry J Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006.

The legislation to facilitate a new and expanded era in bilateral relations between India and the US was passed on the last day of the lame duck session of the 109th Congress with the House of Representatives approving the Conference Committee Report by a thumping margin of 330 votes to 59 and the Senate giving its nod to it by a unanimous consent vote in the early hours of December 9.

Senior Indian scientists, however, have pointed out that the US bill deviates from the July 18, 2005 and March 2, 2006 joint statements issued by both the countries and asked the government to protect New Delhi's interests while signing the crucial 123 agreement with Washington.

India's Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar has said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will consult all those "directly or indirectly" involved with the nuclear deal before taking a final decision on it.

Taking part in a brainstorming session organised in Mumbai by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) on Friday, scientists like former AEC chairmen H N Sethna, M R Srinivasan and P K Iyengar said the Henry J Hyde Bill deviates from the joint Indo-US statements as well as Prime Minister's assurances in Parliament in August this year.

The outgoing chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Richard Lugar, has hailed the bill as advancing the President's "most important strategic diplomatic initiative".

The nuclear legislation had to weather many legislative storms during the course of the year before coming to fruition on the last day of Congress.

The bill being signed into law by Bush on Monday marks the first major step in the process of moving towards bilateral nuclear commerce.

The next steps in the process are for New Delhi and Washington to successfully conclude a formal bilateral nuclear cooperation accord, known as the 123 agreement as it will be signed under Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act, an agreement between India and the IAEA on a India-specific safeguards agreement, and the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group exempting India from supply restrictions.

Legislatively, the bill had to get through the House International Relations Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but not before multiple hearings in which senior administration officials like the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns and others came before various panels to stand by the July 2005 and March 2006 agreements of Bush and Singh.