Page 376 - SSB Interview: The Complete Guide, Second Edition
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On 2 March 2006 in New Delhi, George W Bush and Manmohan Singh
signed a Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, following an initiation during
the July 2005 summit in Washington between the two leaders over civilian
nuclear cooperation.
Heavily endorsed by the White House, the agreement is thought to be a
major victory to George W Bush’s foreign policy initiative and was described
by many law makers as a cornerstone of the new strategic partnership
between the two countries. The agreement is widely considered to help India
fulfil its soaring energy demands and boost US and India into a strategic
partnership. The Pentagon speculates this will help ease global demand for
crude oil and natural gas.
On 3 August 2007, both countries released the full text of the 123
Agreement. Nicholas Burns, the chief negotiator of the India-United States
nuclear deal, said the US has the right to terminate the deal if India tests a
nuclear weapon and that no part of the agreement recognises India as a
nuclear weapons state.
Hyde Act Passage in the US
On 18 December 2006, President George W Bush signed the Hyde Act into
law. The Act was passed by an overwhelming 359–68 in the United States
House of Representatives on 26 July and by 85–12 in the United States
Senate on 16 November in a strong show of bipartisan support.
The House version (H.R. 5682) and Senate version (S. 3709) of the bill
differed due to amendments each had added before approving, but the
versions were reconciled with a House vote of 330–59 on 8 December and a
Senate voice-vote on 9 December before being passed on to President Bush
for final approval. The White House had urged Congress to expedite the
reconciliation process during the end-2006 lame-duck session and
recommended removing certain amendments which would be deemed deal-
killers by India. Nonetheless, while softened, several clauses restricting
India’s strategic nuclear programme and conditions on having India align
with US views over Iran were incorporated in the Hyde Act.
