Legislation promoting nuclear cooperation between the USA and Nuclear non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) non-signer India has been approved by the House International Relations Committee.
The legislation would grant the President a series of waivers to existing law that would allow him to negotiate and submit to Congress for approval an agreement for civil nuclear cooperation with India, although a number of conditions must be met before hand such as compliance with an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards agreement.
The bill, entitled the “United States and India Nuclear Cooperation Promotion Act of 2006,” and introduced by Representatives Henry J. Hyde and Tom Lantos authorises the President to exempt the US-India nuclear cooperation from statutory prohibitions but requires continuing consultation with Congress and a number of reports that will enable Congress to remain fully informed of the ongoing negotiation and implementation of the agreement.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to consider its version of the legislation this week.
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