Hyde Act provisions will never be accepted by India: Congress

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said while discussing Indian perspectives of the US-India civilian nuclear agreement, that there is no way India's foreign policy can be congruent with US policy.

Singhvi, on a visit to the US, which included meetings in Washington with some administration officials in the Pentagon like Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for South Asia James Clad and some US lawmakers and their aides, described the Hyde Act, the enabling legislation to facilitate the Indo-US nuclear deal, as "clearly the biggest bug-bear - the red rag to a raging bull".

Thus, he said that the Indian stand is unequivocally and unambiguously clear that India is bound only by the 123 Agreement and not the Hyde Act, even though senior Bush administration officials like Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has assured the US Congress that for the deal to be consummated it has to be 'consistent' with the Hyde Act.

Singhvi recalled, "When the Hyde Act was signed into law, the US President had made explicit declarations that these parts of the Hyde Act are advisory and not binding".

He said the provisions in the Hyde Act, known as a sense of Congress, which is an anathema to some members of the coalition Indian government, particularly to the Left and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, "Obviously will not be congruent to any country's foreign policy".

"They may be reflections of US foreign policy, but they are not necessarily congruent with other countries' foreign policies," he added.

Singhvi said referring to some of the provisions of the Hyde Act, "There is no way in which we can stop dealing with Iran. There is no way in which we can send troops to Iraq or sign the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. There is no way in which these provisions are ever going to be accepted or implemented by India".

"They are, as far as interpretation is concerned, the US President's certification of compliance. That's internal to the United States, but certainly not Indian compliance directly," Singhvi added.

Singhvi also warned that India would not send the 123 Agreement back to the US Congress "if there is a mid-stream alteration of the whole thing by the Nuclear Suppliers Group".

"Of course, it's a different agreement, it's a different entity," he acknowledged, "but it's very much part of the holistic program of the 123. And that's not standing outside the NSG. It is asking the NSG for India specific exceptions just as the International Atomic Energy Agency is doing".