NEW DELHI — As the U.S. steps up pressure on Iran and North Korea to abandon suspected nuclear weapons programs, American officials are working to complete a deal with India that critics call a threat to nonproliferation efforts.
After discussing an accord on civil nuclear cooperation with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry said Thursday that congressional approval would depend on the success of negotiations in the coming days.
President Bush and Singh agreed in July at a Washington summit to resume nuclear cooperation in energy and other civilian fields even though India refuses to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Under the Atomic Energy Act, Bush needs congressional support to open the door to nuclear cooperation between the U.S. and India.
Former presidential hopeful Kerry, who sits on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he supported the deal in principle and called it "a very positive step forward." But the Massachusetts senator echoed concerns that it would allow India to keep producing the weapons-grade material it needs to build more nuclear bombs.
The U.S. led international moves to isolate India after it first tested a nuclear bomb in 1974, when India was a close ally of the Soviet Union. Sanctions were tightened when India and neighbor Pakistan carried out a series of tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests in 1998.
But the Sept. 11 attacks, and India's growing economic and military strength, have radically changed Washington's view of South Asia.
The Bush administration has moved quickly to forge a close "strategic partnership" with India, including accords for closer cooperation in high-tech fields such as spaceflight, satellites and missile defense.
Administration officials have sought to assure Congress that talks to work out details of the July agreement will help bring India into what lead U.S. negotiator R. Nicholas Burns called "the international nonproliferation mainstream."
Robert Joseph, undersecretary of State for arms control and international security, has warned that Congress could kill the accord by "piling on conditions."
"It would be better to lock in this deal and then seek to achieve further results in subsequent nonproliferation discussions," he said.
Bush plans to visit India before spring, and he and Singh appear eager for a final agreement before then.
