India may walk out if N-deal is delayed

WASHINGTON: Further delay in Congressional approval of a legislation to implement Indo-US civilian nuclear deal could prompt New Delhi to walk out of the agreement, a prominent American newspaper has warned.

“Some supporters of a US nuclear-technology deal with India are cautioning that any more delays in the congressional approval of the White House’s agreement could prompt New Delhi to walk out of it,” The Hill, a newspaper which covers Congressional affairs, said in a write-up.

“The White House had pushed for a vote in the Senate on the legislation needed to start implementing the deal by the end of last week, but partisan squabbling delayed passage until after the midterm election,” it said, adding the pact’s supporters are making last-ditch efforts to ensure it is considered among first issues when Senate returns on November 13.

“If that is not done by the end of the year, legislation will have to be marked up again in a new Congress next year, perhaps controlled by the Democrats in either or both chambers,” it added.

“This is not an American gift to India. It is a balance of mutual interests. There are huge potential benefits to the US, both for business and non-proliferation reasons,” an unnamed source told the newspaper.

“This is supposed to be a priority for the (Bush) administration as well, so it's a little puzzling why the majority leader failed to bring it to the floor after it was reported out of the committee in July.

We could have acted on this bill a long time ago, yet we were unable to do so because of serious objections from the Republican side of the aisle,” said Jim Manley, Chief of Staff for minority leader Harry Reid.