Senator Richard Lugar, Indiana Republican and chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, whose support is imperative if the US-India civilian nuclear deal is to make any progress in Congress and towards ultimate consummation, has urged India and the International Atomic Energy Agency to move expeditiously to conclude a safeguards agreement so that lawmakers are 'better equipped to make informed judgements'.

Lugar, who has introduced legislation on behalf of the Bush Administration to amend the 1954 Atomic Energy Act with an India-specific exemption to facilitate the implementation of the US-India nuclear deal pending approval by the Congress but has himself not enforsed the legislation, is convening yet another hearing of his panel. This time he will hear the views of some leading non-government experts. He acknowledged that 'the Committee is cognizant of how valuable a closer relationship with India could be for the United States'.

He also conceded that energy cooperation between the United States and India is particularly important, 'particularly since India's energy needs are expected to double by 2025'.

But he argued that 'even as we pursue closer ties with India, we must examine the implications and risks of initiating  a cooperative nuclear relationship', and went on to enumerate a laundry list of New Delhi's perceived indiscretions vis-a -vis the nuclear nonproliferation realm.

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"India has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty; it has built and tested nuclear weapons; and it has declared its intention to continue its nuclear weapons programs and the production of fissile material," Lugar noted.

Thus, he said, "If Congress approves this agreement, we will be establishing a new course after decades of declining any cooperation with India's nuclear program. Consequently, our Committee has spent much time probing the details of the US-India civilian nuclear agreement."

Lugar said among the many questions, his committee is attempting to evaluate are 'the potential benefits of drawing India into a deeper relationship with the IAEA and placing more Indian reactors under safeguards'.

He said, "The Committee has also expressed great interest in the timing and sequence of how the India Nuclear Agreement would be implemented."

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Lugar recalled that since the Committee last met and heard a testimony from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [Images], "India has initiated discussions with the IAEA on a safeguards agreement and an additional protocol."

While acknowledging that 'this is a welcome development', Lugar asserted that it was imperative that India and the IAEA 'work hard to conclude an effective agreement in a timely fashion'.

"All parties involved in the negotiations, including the Bush Administration, should facilitate the maximum amount of transparency possible, so that Congress is better equipped to make informed judgements," he said.

Congressional sources close to Lugar told rediff.com, that although Lugar is leaning toward supporting the deal and voting it out of his Committee so that the full Senate can have an up or down vote on it, he continued to be troubled that the bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement, which he had been informed was a formality and simply a technical agreement, had not only not been completed, but also seemed to be in limbo following India's rejection that it would not acquiesce to a provision that it not detonate a nuclear explosive device henceforth.

The sources said that Lugar was also now leaning towards wanting to see the safeguards agreement negotiated between India and the IAEA, before scheduling a vote of his committee, and this they acknowledged, could clearly delay any movement on the legislation, because even the senior Democrats on the Committee had strongly expressed that they would want to review both the safeguards agreement and the bilateral '123 agreement' before they made up their mind, although some observers have argued that this is a ploy to delay the vote till later this year and not give President George Bush [Images] an important foreign policy victory before the November Congressional elections.

Complete coverage: Indo-US nuclear tango