Washington: The US Senate on Wednesday opened a debate on the Indo-US nuclear deal before taking up for vote a legislation on the initiative, four days after the House of Representatives gave its nod to the landmark agreement.
In his opening remarks, Christopher Dodd, the Acting Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged his colleagues to approve the HR 7081 Bill on the civil nuclear cooperation between India and the US.
Ahead of the Senate taking up the issue, Democratic Senators Byron Dorgan and Jeff Bingaman introduced two amendments to ensure that the US nuclear exports to India do not help boost New Delhi's nuclear weapons programme.
Already approved by the House of Representatives, the Bill has a paragraph that the US can cease nuclear cooperation with India if New Delhi conducts a test.
The amendment proposed by Dorgan says that "notwithstanding any other provision of law, the US may not export, transfer or re-transfer any nuclear technology, material, equipment or facility under the Agreement if the Government of India detonates a nuclear explosive device after the date of the enactment of this Act."
Bingaman has proposed that if India detonates a nuclear weapon after the date of the enactment of the Act, the US President has to certify to Congress that no American technology, material, equipment or facility supplied to India under the Agreement assisted New Delhi's test.
At least 60 lawmakers in the 100-member Senate have to give their approval to the bill for it to be cleared in the chamber. The House of Representatives on Saturday approved the legislation with a two-thirds majority.
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