U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative

On December 18, 2006, President Bush signed into law The Henry J. Hyde U.S.-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006. This law represents an historic achievement and a major step forward toward realizing President Bush and Prime Minister Singh's vision of a strategic partnership between the world's oldest and largest democracies.

Enactment of this legislation will facilitate civil nuclear cooperation between the United States and India and further demonstrates our intent to fulfill all of our commitments to India reflected in the Joint Statement of July 18, 2005, and India 's Separation Plan of March 7, 2006. This legislation is integral to the enhanced relationship that the United States and India are building to promote energy security, prosperity, democracy, and nonproliferation.

Key features of the legislation include:

• Affirming the importance of having India as a strategic partner of the United States ;
• Recognizing India 's strong nuclear nonproliferation record;
• Stating that civil nuclear cooperation with India is in the long-term interests of the United States ;
• Enhancing the authority of the President to waive the full-scope safeguards requirement for civil nuclear cooperation with a non-Nuclear Weapon State under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as well other key provisions of that act;
• Reaffirming U.S. policy to limit the spread of enrichment and reprocessing technology;
• Reiterating the commitment of the United States to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; and
• Expressing our desire to work with India to bolster nonproliferation efforts around the world.

Passage of the legislation represents the culmination of many months of close coordination between the U.S. Congress and the Administration and reinforces bipartisan American support for achieving closer relations with India . It also confirms U.S. confidence in India as a global partner and reflects our appreciation for India 's strong nuclear non-proliferation record, its democratic traditions, and its commitment to tolerance and freedom.

The U.S.- India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative will achieve important benefits for the people of both countries as well as the international community. It will bring India into the global nuclear nonproliferation mainstream. For the first time, India has committed to take significant nonproliferation steps that will end its 30-year isolation from the global regime. It will deepen the U.S.-India strategic relationship and thus help ensure stability, prosperity, and peace in Asia and worldwide. It will open significant business opportunities for American and international firms to help meet India 's demand for civil nuclear technology, fuel, and support services. It will also help meet India 's surging energy requirements in an environmentally-friendly manner.

With the completion of the legislation, the United States now looks forward to the rapid completion of the necessary steps to fully implement the Initiative and enable civil nuclear cooperation with India . These steps include:

• Completing negotiations on a U.S.-India agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation as required under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and approval of that agreement by Congress;
• Negotiation of a safeguards agreement between India and the International Atomic Energy Agency applicable to India 's separated civil nuclear sector; and
• The achievement of a consensus in the Nuclear Suppliers Group to make an India-specific exception to the full-scope safeguards requirement of the Group's export guidelines.

The U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative, as advanced by the Henry J. Hyde U.S.-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Act of 2006, continues the overall transformation in relations that our two great countries have undertaken. We will use cooperation in the civil nuclear arena as an impetus for increased cooperation in a range of areas including democracy, science and technology, agriculture, trade, civil space exploration, and nonproliferation. Working together, the United States and India can accomplish great things in the new century.