New Delhi, March 4
US assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher today talked of the relevance of the Hyde Act in operationalisation of the Indo-US nuclear deal. The Act is a prominent red rag for the Left as well as the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
Boucher, who met foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon and held talks with senior officials in South Block today soon after his arrival here, indicated that the Act, a domestic legislation of the USA, would have to be taken into account in operation of the deal.
“The Hyde Act is a domestic legislation and the 123 agreement is an international agreement. I think we can move forward with both in a consistent manner,” Boucher remarked when asked by reporters whether the Act would have any bearing on the Indo-US nuclear cooperation. He also said the two sides discussed ways in which they could move forward on building the “very important” relationship.
Boucher’s comments on the relevance of the Hyde Act assume significance. From Washington’s point of view, Boucher cannot be expected to belittle a domestic legislation — and that too on foreign soil — when the Bush administration needs the Congress approval of the nuclear deal at a later
stage.
At the same time, it is a laid down international practice that an international agreement takes precedence over the domestic legislation in case of a gridlock situation. Moreover, there are safety valve clauses within the Hyde Act and the Presidential waiver which President George W. Bush spoke of at the time of making the 123 agreement a law. New Delhi would like to see Boucher’s remarks on the Act from this perspective.
However, Boucher’s comments are certain to give ammunition to the Left and the BJP over the Act despite the government’s insistence that it will have no bearing on the nuclear deal with the USA.
“We don’t agree with the government that the Hyde Act’s implications do not exist for India,” CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury said after external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee’s suo motu statement in Parliament yesterday on foreign
policy.
“Under the Hyde Act, anything that’s signed will be a frontal attack on India’s sovereignty,” he added.
BJP leader V.K. Malhotra said: “If the Hyde Act is not going to be applicable on India, then let the US government or the US President say so.”
Their concerns were heightened after US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice said last month that Washington would not support India’s case if it was contrary to the Hyde Act.
She also maintained that changes in the NSG guidelines, required by India for nuclear commerce with international community, would have to be “completely consistent with the obligations of the Hyde Act”.
The government’s take on the Hyde Act is that India would not be bound by a domestic legislation of the USA. Moreover, there is nothing mandatory in the Act, which contains some “prescriptive and extraneous elements”.
Mukherjee said in Parliament yesterday: “We will continue to seek broad political consensus within the country to take forward our political engagement with other countries.”
He also questioned Rice’s comment in a veiled manner when he asserted that India’s right and obligations on civil nuclear cooperation came only from the 123 Agreement.
