Key US lawmaker pushes for conditional NSG waiver for India

An NSG waiver "inconsistent" with Hyde Act will "jeopardise" the Indo-US nuclear deal in Congress,a key US lawmaker has warned the Bush administration, insisting that the group should agree to terminate the pact with India if it conducts an atomic test.       

Democrat Howard Berman, Chairman of the crucial House Foreign Affairs Committee told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the deal should be shelved till January next year as there is not enough time for the Congress to study it by September 8 when it is scheduled to meet next.       

The Congressional panel will examine the 123 Agreement when it is presented to the Congress for its approval.      

"I am a friend of India and a supporter of US-India nuclear cooperation. Yet I find it incomprehensible that the Administration apparently intends to seek or accept an exemption from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) guidelines for India with few or none of the conditions contained in the Henry J Hyde Act," Berman said in his letter to Rice which was made public yesterday.       

While seeking a waiver to the accord from the 45-member NSG later this month, the lawmaker said it must be ensured that exemptions agreed reflect conditions of the Hyde Act .      

"An exemption inconsistent with the US law will place American firms at a severe competitive disadvantage and undermine critical US non-proliferation objectives. It will also jeopardise congressional support for nuclear cooperation with India in future," he said.       

The administration must be mindful of several key things like the immediate termination of all nuclear commerce by NSG member states if India detonates a nuclear explosive device or if the IAEA determines that India has violated its safeguards commitments, he said.