09-13-2008, 08:04 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> <b>Won't sell sensitive technology to India </b>
pioneer.com
S Rajagopalan | Washington
<b>NSG nations agreed secretly
Plan to 'tighten up' rules further</b>
For all the hoopla about the Nuclear Suppliers Group's waiver to India, the 45-nation body has "privately agreed" that "none of its members plans to sell sensitive technologies to India", the Washington Post reported on Friday.
Citing a senior US official, it said that during NSG discussions last weekend on how to handle enrichment and reprocessing, it was made clear that nobody had any plans to transfer such technologies to India in the foreseeable future.
While such statements may not be binding, the official spoke of the plans of NSG nations to "tighten up" the rules on such sales in the near future, thereby "allowing them to achieve the same restrictions on India later without causing a diplomatic rupture now".
It was this understanding that helped persuade several skeptical member-states to finally fall in line and support the waiver to India, the report said, adding that the NSG is "nearing consensus on a total ban on sensitive sales to countries like India that have not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty".
The NSG's purported private agreement would appear to be in tandem with the US's own position, set out in clear terms in President George W. Bush's communication on Wednesday to US Congress on the 123 agreement.
"Sensitive nuclear technology, heavy-water production technology and production facilities, sensitive nuclear facilities, and major critical components of such facilities may not be transferred under the Agreement, unless the Agreement is amended," Bush said in the communication.
The US official's disclosure has come amid India's worries on another critical aspect set out in Bush's submission to Congress: That the fuel supply assurances under the India-US deal are "not legally binding".
Said Bush in his communication: "In Article 5(6) the Agreement records certain political commitments concerning reliable supply of nuclear fuel given to India Agreement does not, however, transform these political commitments into legally binding commitments because the Agreement, like other US agreements of its type, is intended as a framework agreement."
While Bush's categorical assertion may have discomfited New Delhi, some observers believe this pronouncement as well as the official's talk of NSG's "private agreement" may actually help the administration win over naysayers in Congress and pave the way for the deal's final approval this month.
The Bush Administration has let it be known that it is racing to secure the ratification of the deal before Congress adjourns. In a measure of its confidence on this score, the administration has already announced that Bush will receive Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the White House on September 25.
A word of cheer for them has since come with Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Joe Biden announcing that his panel will hold a hearing "as soon as next week". Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has already promised to find a way to push the deal forward.
On the House side, a mixed message emerged on the prospects of the deal's passage this month. While Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed the hope that "work can be done" to bring it to a vote, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman said he "wants to study" the various documents submitted by the White House.
Pelosi also stressed that the final package on the deal, submitted by the administration, must "honour the principles of" the enabling legislation passed in December 2006, namely the Hyde Act. The administration has said the package does meet the Hyde Act terms.
"We have presented a very strong package fully consistent with the requirements that Congress set out," Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said at a meeting organised by the US India Business Alliance on Capitol Hill.
Boucher said while the Congressional calendar is tight, the administration was hopeful that the legislation can be passed before Congress adjourns for the year.
"The president has notified Congress as required under the Hyde Act of 2006 that India has harmonised and has adhered to in accordance with the procedures of those regimes for unilateral adherence," the State Department said.
As for India's adherence to guidelines of NSG and the Missile Technology Control Regime, the department cited External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's September 5 statement in which he reinforced India's commitments made in the July 2005 joint statement of Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"We also understand that India has sent letters to the International Atomic Energy Agency director general and to the MTCR point of contact in Paris stating that it has adhered to the NSG and MTCR. We welcome these steps," the State Department said.
- See edit: A deceitful deal: Elaborate charade to trick India
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Shame of India, Manmohan Singh ko jawab nahi.
pioneer.com
S Rajagopalan | Washington
<b>NSG nations agreed secretly
Plan to 'tighten up' rules further</b>
For all the hoopla about the Nuclear Suppliers Group's waiver to India, the 45-nation body has "privately agreed" that "none of its members plans to sell sensitive technologies to India", the Washington Post reported on Friday.
Citing a senior US official, it said that during NSG discussions last weekend on how to handle enrichment and reprocessing, it was made clear that nobody had any plans to transfer such technologies to India in the foreseeable future.
While such statements may not be binding, the official spoke of the plans of NSG nations to "tighten up" the rules on such sales in the near future, thereby "allowing them to achieve the same restrictions on India later without causing a diplomatic rupture now".
It was this understanding that helped persuade several skeptical member-states to finally fall in line and support the waiver to India, the report said, adding that the NSG is "nearing consensus on a total ban on sensitive sales to countries like India that have not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty".
The NSG's purported private agreement would appear to be in tandem with the US's own position, set out in clear terms in President George W. Bush's communication on Wednesday to US Congress on the 123 agreement.
"Sensitive nuclear technology, heavy-water production technology and production facilities, sensitive nuclear facilities, and major critical components of such facilities may not be transferred under the Agreement, unless the Agreement is amended," Bush said in the communication.
The US official's disclosure has come amid India's worries on another critical aspect set out in Bush's submission to Congress: That the fuel supply assurances under the India-US deal are "not legally binding".
Said Bush in his communication: "In Article 5(6) the Agreement records certain political commitments concerning reliable supply of nuclear fuel given to India Agreement does not, however, transform these political commitments into legally binding commitments because the Agreement, like other US agreements of its type, is intended as a framework agreement."
While Bush's categorical assertion may have discomfited New Delhi, some observers believe this pronouncement as well as the official's talk of NSG's "private agreement" may actually help the administration win over naysayers in Congress and pave the way for the deal's final approval this month.
The Bush Administration has let it be known that it is racing to secure the ratification of the deal before Congress adjourns. In a measure of its confidence on this score, the administration has already announced that Bush will receive Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the White House on September 25.
A word of cheer for them has since come with Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Joe Biden announcing that his panel will hold a hearing "as soon as next week". Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has already promised to find a way to push the deal forward.
On the House side, a mixed message emerged on the prospects of the deal's passage this month. While Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed the hope that "work can be done" to bring it to a vote, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman said he "wants to study" the various documents submitted by the White House.
Pelosi also stressed that the final package on the deal, submitted by the administration, must "honour the principles of" the enabling legislation passed in December 2006, namely the Hyde Act. The administration has said the package does meet the Hyde Act terms.
"We have presented a very strong package fully consistent with the requirements that Congress set out," Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said at a meeting organised by the US India Business Alliance on Capitol Hill.
Boucher said while the Congressional calendar is tight, the administration was hopeful that the legislation can be passed before Congress adjourns for the year.
"The president has notified Congress as required under the Hyde Act of 2006 that India has harmonised and has adhered to in accordance with the procedures of those regimes for unilateral adherence," the State Department said.
As for India's adherence to guidelines of NSG and the Missile Technology Control Regime, the department cited External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's September 5 statement in which he reinforced India's commitments made in the July 2005 joint statement of Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"We also understand that India has sent letters to the International Atomic Energy Agency director general and to the MTCR point of contact in Paris stating that it has adhered to the NSG and MTCR. We welcome these steps," the State Department said.
- See edit: A deceitful deal: Elaborate charade to trick India
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Shame of India, Manmohan Singh ko jawab nahi.