Sending a strong signal that it needs the nuclear deal done and setting the stage for the reconciliation of the Senate and House versions of the Bill, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has listed nine “concern” areas to heads of respective Congressional committees and suggested specific solutions so that the law in its final shape is closer to the July 18 understanding.
From dilution of certain provisions to asking Congress to drop some elements, Rice has been very specific in her five-page letter. She made it clear to the Senate that the insistence on “annual certification” of India’s compliance to its various committments will create “annual tensions” with India as it signals “a lack of permanence in the deal”.
The initial discussions of the Conference are already underway — the Senate chose its six nominees today — and this letter comes days ahead of the formal conference on Wednesday. The reconciled version will be put to vote on December 7 and 8.
Clearly, the US Administration has taken on board not only the most important, but almost all of India’s concerns through this letter:
• Senate Bill, Section 106: Bans transfer of technologies related to enrichment, reprocessing and heavy water production.
Rice: “It is not appropriate to single out India, which has been a responsible steward of its nuclear technology. We request that the Senate defer to the House Bill, which does not include such a limitation”. Or else, she suggests the Senate can ask for prior intimation ahead of any such transfer.
... contd.
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