By NNN-PTI
Washington : Cutting across party lines, a small group of senior lawmakers have introduced a non-binding resolution in the US House of Representatives seeking tough restraints on nuclear trade with India.
The move is seen as indicating not only displeasure by a section of members but also intended to significantly delay or perhaps outright derail the final passage of the civilian nuclear initiative that will operationalise the Indo-US deal.
The resolution introduced last night in the House by Howard L Berman, Democrat from California; Flordia Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; and Jeff Fortenberry, Republican from Nebraska, is non-binding.
All of them are members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a key panel of the Congress that will have to approve the final legislation when submitted by the administration.
The introduction of the non-binding resolution comes at a time when the 45-member Nuclear Supplier’s Group is getting ready to debate the Indo-US civil nuclear deal and on the eve of the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei’s visit to India.
The resolution says there should not be any change to the NSG guidelines until such time the Bush administration has “answered all outstanding questions raised by Congress regarding apparent inconsistencies between the nuclear cooperation agreement and the Henry J Hyde US-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006” as also resolving with India “all differences of interpretation of the provisions in the nuclear cooperation agreement.”