Quiet diplomacy marks next phase of N-deal

Obviously cognisant of the sensitivities involved as enabling legislation to facilitate the US-India civilian nuclear agreement awaits action in the full House and Senate, senior Indian diplomats clammed up on the subject.

Not only is the Indian Embassy not talking, diplomatic sources told rediff India Abroad that Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran has also been advised to eschew media and television appearances.

The fear is that an unguarded remark, misperceived by lawmakers in Washington, could jeopardise the Bush Administration's efforts to push for expeditious House and Senate floor action.

"Very frankly, we have problems with a number of parts in the legislation (both the Senate Lugar/Biden bill and the House Hyde/Lantos measure approved by the Senate Foreign Relations and House International Relations Committees last month), but we've decided to remain silent and not make any public statements because we do not want to complicate an already complicated matter for the administration," a senior diplomat said

"It's already a difficult job for the administration and as you know, there are egos to consider, some of the lawmakers are already extremely bitter, so we should be very careful and not complicate matters."

A diplomatic source said the problems India has with the respective bills will be negotiated behind the scenes, with a total absence of public fuss and attention. "If a Senator gets the feeling that you are putting pressure, they are going to stand tough and we don't want any such situation."

Ambassador Ronen Sen told rediff India Abroad that immediately after the House International Relations and Senate International Relations Committees overwhelmingly adopted by huge margins the enabling legislations, he had refused to make any substantive comment. "All I will say in public is that this is a process which is ongoing. Not one word more will I say, because I don't want to complicate the matter."

He acknowledged that he had been meeting with several Congressmen and Senators, but all he told them was "Do it (vote in favor) only if you are convinced that it's as good for the United States as it is for India, and also if you'll believe it will have a positive impact globally, because it's only on that basis that a long-term relationship can endure."

US Ambassador to India David Mulford however had no such qualms. "The votes that have been accomplished in the Committees thus far are very positive," Mulford, who is in Washington to help push the deal, told rediff India Abroad.

"They are very strong majorities and they are bipartisan. We know that there are some outstanding issues that would have to be resolved between the two bills. It is not unusual, and that is a process that will be done in conference."

Mulford said the US side was aware that the Indian side viewed some provisions as problematical. "We will work where possible to address those issues. But bear in mind that the Congress of the United States is a sovereign body, a branch of our government, and they have their own ideas about some of these things.

"So we have to work the process through and with India, which is also a democracy."

Mulford disclosed that 60 percent of the bilateral civilian nuclear agreement, the so-called 123 Agreement, has been completed, and predicted that the remaining issues would be wrapped up in the next couple of weeks.

He said it was more a matter of scheduling. "It entails bringing people back together again, which we hope will be done in the next week or so. When that happens, I look forward to the bulk of those issues being resolved in the next round.

"So I don't think it's impossible that we would be in a position to finish the 123 Agreement within a period of weeks, and that we would then be able to move forward with the next phase."

Mulford acknowledged that this was not the only item on the to-do list. "There is also the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the IAEA (India's safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency) -- those initiatives have to be completed as well, and all these things have to move together."

However, he said, the momentum was now strong, and "With the right will, flexibility and energy on both sides, this is a deal that can be completed."

Lieutenant General (retired) Daniel W Christman, chairman of the Coalition for Partnership with India and senior vice president for International Affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce, who along with Ron Somers, president of USIBC, hosted Mulford for a working luncheon, said "We are very hopeful of getting the first phase of this through our Congress in early August prior to the summer adjournment.

 "We continue to educate the lawmakers," he said. "That is the key point on this. Our philosophy all along has been to try to ensure that Congress understands that this is a lot more than simply the sale of reactor technology -- it's a much, much broader and far more significant outreach to a very, very important strategic partner."

Christman said "That's the standard that we have employed from the beginning on this, and as we work through some of the details of this to make certain that Congress understands the context in which the initial agreement was reached between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Bush, and that to the extent possible, we try to avoid crossing over some red lines that would essentially mean the demise of the agreement.

"And we are very hopeful that we have not approached that point yet," he said. "There are some provisions as you know in both the House and Senate versions that might be problematic, but our whole point is to continue the education process in the coming weeks."

Somers said US businesses and US industry are pushing for a vote before the end of July and "our mandate starting today is to revitalise ourselves after the July 4 recess and to now once again get industry up on Capitol Hill to encourage that we reserve that floor time, to make sure that floor time is available so that we can get this piece of business done before the summer recess, which is August 4."

He said Mulford had informed them during the luncheon that "if we succeed in getting this piece of legislation done before the summer recess, we are 75 per cent home and the momentum is clearly in our favor, the wind is at our backs -- so all of us collectively need to be working toward it."