In a statement, Democratic Congressman Edward Markey, better known for his anti-India tirade, slammed India and the Bush Administration and urged the Congress to “reassess” the civilian nuclear deal in light of the FBI indictment. But Tom Casey, State Department spokesman, told The New York Times that this is a law enforcement matter, which began before US efforts to conclude a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement. “The arrests of these individuals are not connected to our efforts to conclude an agreement,” he said. The Justice Department charged that these three Indian defense establishments participated in a conspiracy to acquire secret weapons technology from the US with the help of Cirrus Electronics, which is based in Singapore with offices in the US and India.