WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 - US President George W. Bush signed the legislation to enact the India-US nuclear deal in an elegant ceremony at the White House, on Wednesday afternoon, and with one swift stroke took India-US relations to a dramatically different and loftier level. The legislation, which is being hailed as his greatest foreign policy achievement, “builds on the growing ties between the world’s two largest democracies, India and the United States”, he declared.
Bush was accompanied by his Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the driving force behind the deal, and Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. Congressional leaders who shared the stage with them included Senators Christopher Dodd (Democrat-Connecticut) and John Warner (Republican-Virginia) and Representatives Joseph Crowley and Eliot Engel, both Democrats of New York. The president warmly acknowledged the presence of Indian Ambassador Mr. Ronen Sen and his counterpart, US Ambassador David Mulford.
The function was held in the ornate East Room of the White House and drew over 200 people including a sizeable proportion of prominent Indian-Americans, representatives of business and industry who had lobbied hard for the deal, heads of think tanks, and other high-profile professionals. It provided a platform to the president to thank those who had worked so hard, over the course of three years, to secure the deal. The efforts of the Indian-American community were duly recognized. “I appreciate the work of the Indian-American leaders from across the nation”, Bush said, in his opening remarks.
The president made it a point to allay any anxieties of the Indian government regarding fuel exchange and reprocessing rights. At a hearing convened by the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, last month, a few lawmakers had engaged in a lengthy discussion with State Department officials about fuel supplies being political commitments as opposed to legally binding guarantees. Reportedly, this had frayed nerves in New Delhi.
Abiding by all his promises, the president made it unequivocally clear that the legislation makes no changes to the terms of the 123 agreement which he submitted to Congress on Sept. 10. “It enables me to bring that agreement into force and to accept on behalf of the United States all the obligations that are part of the agreement”, he said. “The legislation does not change the fuel assurance commitments that the United States government has made to the government of India, as recorded in the 123 agreement. The agreement also grants India `advance consent to reprocessing’ which will be brought into effect upon the conclusion of arrangements and procedures for a dedicated reprocessing facility under IAEA safeguards”.
At the time of going to press, the two countries formally inked the 123 agreement when Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Secretary Rice signed the overall accord, on Friday, here at the State Department.
Contrary to the claim of critics, President Bush insisted that the agreement will strengthen global non-proliferation efforts. “India will continue to build on its strong record of responsibility in operating its nuclear facilities”, he said. “And India and the United States will cooperate more closely to keep the world’s most dangerous weapons out of the hands of extremists and terrorists”.
It is well known that the leaders of the world’s largest democracies share a warm, personal rapport and at the White House ceremony, President Bush referred to Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh as “a dear friend”. Both have worked with a single-minded determination to transform bilateral ties.
“In recent years, we’ve worked to transform our relationship into a strong strategic partnership”, Bush declared. Among the numerous fields which have merited close cooperation is that of energy. The president noted, “One energy source that can generate large amounts of electricity with zero emissions of air pollution or greenhouse gases is nuclear power. So three years ago, Prime Minister Singh - who I consider a dear friend - and I resolved to work together on a landmark agreement paving the way for our nations to cooperate on nuclear power. By undertaking new cooperation on civil nuclear energy, India will be able to count on a reliable fuel supply for its civilian reactors, meet the energy demands of its people, and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels”, he said.
The magnificence of the venue matched the president’s words. He noted the US and India are “vibrant democracies” and “natural partners” inspite of the physical distance between them. “We have welcomed investment and private enterprise to become leaders in the global economy. We have stood against the dangers posed by extremists who have carried out attacks in both our countries. We have demonstrated that we cherish liberty, honor human dignity and respect the rule of law”, he said.
Concluding his address, the president surprised the gathering by conveying `Diwali’ greetings, also on behalf of First Lady Laura Bush, to the millions of people in India and around the world as they celebrate the auspicious festival later this month. “As we offer our prayers for a happy new year, we can be thankful that the relationship between the United States and India has never been more vibrant and more hopeful”, he said.
The president’s speech, which lasted for some 10 minutes, was punctuated by several rounds of applause and a standing ovation. He had to look no further than at the faces in the East Room of the White House for an approval rating which would have soared through the ceiling! It was a victory well deserved!
Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Congressman Crowley declared, “The US-India relationship is such an important relationship of this century. I have been saying this for some time; now others are saying the same thing. I’m really glad that my vision and thoughts are being appreciated by my colleagues”. The lawmaker stressed the bipartisan nature of the Bill (H.R. 7081) which was signed into law by the president. “This really was a bipartisan effort by the president, the Executive, and Congress”, he said.
Crowley, who is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and former Democratic co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, has always been, by his own admission, “a great supporter” of the deal and he was clearly elated at the outcome.
“Today, the hard work of the Congress, this administration and my friends in the Indian-American community has finally come to fruition”, he stated. “After three years of efforts to unite the world’s oldest and the world’s largest democracies, we officially have an agreement in place to ensure that the US and India work together to peacefully and responsibly develop civilian nuclear technology. I am proud to have been a part of moving this legislation forward, and it is my hope its enactment will help to solidify a critical partnership for decades to come”.
Congressman Ed Royce (Republican-California), another staunch supporter of the deal from the start, hailed the enactment of the agreement after it was signed into law by the president. “There were many who thought this day would never come”, he said, in a statement. “The newspaper headlines that wrote this deal’s obituary were wrong. The hard work of the US and Indian governments, supporters in Congress, and the Indian-American community has paid off. This is truly a momentous day for US-India relations”.
At the signing ceremony, Bush recognized the efforts of Congressional leaders Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat-California), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat-Nevada), Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) and John Boehner (Republican-Ohio) “who worked hard to make sure this bill made it through both houses at the very end of the session”, he said, to much laughter and applause. The president also thanked stalwarts of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: Senators Joseph Biden of Delaware, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Richard Lugar (Republican-Indiana) and Christopher Dodd; and leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee: Representatives Howard Berman (Democrat-California) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Republican-Florida).
Indian-Americans were, of course, euphoric! “This agreement will be beneficial to so many in India and it will certainly start a new era in US-India relations”, said Dr. Rajwant Singh, Chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education (SCORE) based in the Washington area. Dr. Singh, who attended the state dinner at the White House for Dr. Manmohan Singh in July 2005 when the nuclear deal was conceived, told EXPRESS INDIA that considerable credit goes to the Indian prime minister “who has demonstrated visionary leadership in taking the issue to this level”.
Dr. Sampat Shivangi of Jackson, Mississippi, felt “the signing ceremony was unprecedented with Indian-Americans arriving from all over the US for a cause that was dear to their hearts”. Perhaps, for the first time, they came together and delivered on one of the most important deals between the two great democracies of the world, he said.
Dr. Sambhu Banik of Maryland believed future generations would look back on this day as a turning point in India-US relations. He underscored the role of the Indian-American community in mobilizing monetary and other resources over the years to steer the deal on the right track. “This historic signing by President Bush has demonstrated how a small number of Indian-Americans can flex their muscles in the most effective manner if everyone works toward a similar goal and objective”, he said.
Among other Indian-American community activists of the Washington area that we spotted at the White House ceremony were: Dr. Parthasarathy and Mrs. Ann Pillai, Dr. Joydeb Roy, Mr. Sunny and Mrs. Teresa Wycliffe, Dr. Rajen Anand, Dr. Ram Singh, Mr. Satish Korpe, Dr. Suresh and Mrs. Adarsh Gupta, Dr. Thomas Abraham, Dr. Joy Cherian, Anurag Varma, Kishan Putta, Kiran Pasricha of CII-USA; and from around the nation: Mr. Swadesh Chatterjee of North Carolina, Mr. Sant Singh Chatwal of New York, Dr. Sudhir Parikh of New Jersey, Mr. Ramesh Kapur of Massachusetts and Mr. Ashok Mago of Texas.
-By Geeta Goindi, EXPRESS INDIA
