The Indo-US nuclear deal is facing criticism not only in India but also in the US. A senior Democratic lawmaker Ed Markey has slammed the safeguards agreement as pathetic.
Markey says the India-IAEA safeguards agreement is worse than useless; it is a sham.
Markey is a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the founder and co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation.
He has been opposing the nuclear deal from the very beginning.
''It should ensure a bright red line between civilian and military nuclear facilities. Instead, it lays out a path for India to unilaterally remove international safeguards from reactors,'' he said.
He adds that ''Contrary to everything the Bush administration has claimed, if this safeguards agreement is approved, India will be allowed to make electricity one day and bombs the next.''
''This pathetic safeguards agreement not only seriously undermines the Non-Proliferation Treaty, but it also sends the exact wrong message to Iran: that international nuclear safeguards are only for show. With this agreement, the IAEA has thrown its principles out the window and has abandoned its most important responsibilities,'' he said.
