(i) Annual certification and reporting to the US Congress by the President on a variety of foreign policy issues such as India's foreign policy being "congruent to that of the United States" and more specifically India joining US efforts in isolating and even sanctioning Iran [Section 104g(2) E(i)].

Government: India has its own independent foreign policy. Reporting by US President to his Congress is the US system of checks and balances.

(ii) Indian participation and formal declaration of support for the US's highly controversial Proliferation Security Initiative including the illegal policy of interdiction of vessels in international waters [Section 104g(2) K]

Government: India is yet to formulate a view on the Proliferation Security Initiative. The government will do nothing that is not consistent with international law.

(iii) India will have to conform to various bilateral/multilateral agreements to which it is not currently a signatory such as the US Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Australia Group, etc [Section 104C, E,F,G]

Government: MTCR is still under discussion. (iv) The provisions of the Hyde Act could be used to terminate the 123 Agreement not only in the eventuality of a nuclear test but also for India not conforming to US foreign policy. India would be back to complete nuclear isolation, while accepting IAEA safeguards in perpetuity.

Government: The Hyde Act is a domestic law and has no bearing on India’s foreign policy.

Image: US President George W Bush with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Windsor Hotel Toya Resort and Spa in Toyako, Japan, during the G-8 Summit.
Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Also read: The India-IAEA Safeguards Agreement

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