Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday told Congress that the Bush administration?s civilian nuclear energy deal with India would not spark an arms race in south Asia or allow India to enhance its military capacity.
The US secretary of state was testifying on Capitol Hill to convince Congress to approve legislation needed to implement the nuclear energy deal which would reverse decades of US policy in approving the sale of nuclear technology for civilian purposes to India.
?Civil nuclear co-operation with India will not lead to an arms race in south Asia,? Ms Rice told the Senate foreign relations committee.
The administration received support from some Democrats, including Senator John Kerry, the former Democrat presidential candidate, and Joseph Biden, the top Democrat on the committee, who said he would ?probably? support the deal, while raising questions about whether it would allow India to divert nuclear technology from civilian to military uses.
Echoing the view of several senators, Mr Biden suggested that Congress should not approve the deal before India has reached agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency over the safeguards it would implement. Ms Rice said the White House wanted Congress to approve legislative changes needed for the deal first, because negotiations over the safeguards could take some time.
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Richard Lugar, the Republican committee chairman and a leading non-proliferation voice whose support is crucial, appeared more cautious, saying lawmakers should carefully examine the details of the deal.
?India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it has built and tested nuclear weapons and it has declared its intention to continue its nuclear weapons programmes and the production of fissile material,? said Mr Lugar. ?It would not prevent India from expanding its nuclear arsenal.?
Ms Rice told the committee that the deal would ?advance international security, enhance energy security, further environmental protection and increase business opportunities for both countries?. A recent report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service suggests that the administration has exaggerated many of the benefits of the deal, particularly on the economic and environmental benefits.
Responding to criticism that the US would be rewarding India, which has remained outside the non-proliferation treaty, in a way that could complicate US policies towards North Korea and Iran, Ms Rice said: ?It is not simply credible to compare India to North Korea or to Iran.
?While Iran and North Korea are violating their IAEA obligations, India is making new obligations by bringing the IAEA into the Indian programme and seeking peaceful international co-operation.?
Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat, asked Ms Rice whether the fact that eight of India?s 22 nuclear plants would not fall under inspections, would allow India to transfer weapons grade nuclear materials to plants to produce more weapons. When Ms Rice responded that they already could build more weapons if they wanted, Mr Obama shot back: ?If it doesn?t constrain them, why bother checking on the 14??
Ms Rice said the deal would give the International Atomic Energy Agency access to the nuclear programmes which they have not had. She also said the deal would also result in the separation of military and civilian facilities, a claim that was disputed by the Congressional Research Service report.
