New York, Sept 7 :: The US Congress should not rush through the Indo-US nuclear deal until the Bush Administration proved that it did not cut any "side deals" at the NSG meeting to get the India-specific waiver, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman has warned.
Berman, a well-known opponent of the Indo-US nuclear deal, said he would not consider any "expedited" timetable for considering the Indo-US agreement until the Bush administration provides him with more information about the negotiations held at the Nuclear Suppliers Group in Vienna.
The Democrat had raised a political storm in India by releasing the 26-page responses by the State Department to 45 questions on the Indo-US nuclear deal posed by his predecessor Tom Lantos way back in October last year.
The US position in the letter appeared at variance with New Delhi's interpretation of some key clauses of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Berman told the New York Times that he wants to check that the Bush administration did not cut any side deals with 45-member grouping to get their backing.
He said he wanted to ensure, for instance, that the United States did not say any countries could sell nuclear technology to India that the US is currently prohibited from selling.
"Ultimately, the burden was on the White House to convince Congress that the nuclear pact needed to be authorised in a 'rushed' fashion," he said.
Barman's comments came as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said time was short and she has talked to the heads of the Committees of both the houses of Congress for pushing through the deal
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