The Times of India
McCain twits Obama over nuke deal 7 Sep 2008, 2218 hrs IST, Chidanand Rajghatta,
WASHINGTON: It isn't just in India that the US-India nuclear deal has become a political football. As if to prove that politicking is the life-blood of democracies, the two US presidential candidates also sparred over the deal while welcoming the Vienna waiver.
Welcoming the international green signal, Republican nominee John McCain said in a statement on Sunday that the step, "which is critical to implementing the US-India civilian nuclear agreement, represents another building block in the partnership between our two countries."
"Because the agreement will further involve India in the global nonproliferation regime, strengthen the ongoing transformation of US-India relations, and reduce India's dependence on carbon-emitting energy sources, I supported it early on and without equivocation," McCain said, pointedly adding, "The same cannot be said of my opponent, who supported 'poison pill' amendments on the Senate floor that would have had the effect of killing this important agreement."
>From Chicago, Obama issued a statement that was more circumspect,
calling the NSG approval a "positive development" and saying that he
is looking forward to "reviewing" what the grouping has agreed in
Vienna.
"I welcome news that the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) has now reached a consensus to adopt an exception to its rules that would permit its members to engage in nuclear cooperation with India. It is a positive development. I look forward to reviewing what the NSG has agreed in Vienna, and urge the Administration to submit the US-India Agreement for Civil Nuclear Cooperation to the Congress quickly," Obama said.
Indian officials have been in touch with both candidates and their campaign managers to brief them about the developments relating to the deal, wanting to carry forward the bipartisan support the agreement has had in Congress.
When the Hyde Act authorizing the deal first came up before Congress in 2006, it was cleared 359-68 in the House of Representatives and 85-12 in the US Senate.
Energy security has been on the top of the agenda in both the McCain and Obama campaigns, with differing emphasis. McCain supports exploration of new sources of fossil fuels and building new nuclear power plants; Obama is more inclined towards green energy sources.
Both campaigns are conscious of the broad support the nuclear deal enjoys with the Indian-American community and the passion it arouses in some sections.
-- My humanity is in feeling we are all voices of the same poverty. - Jorge Louis Borges