Rep. Markey said, “With the U.S.-India nuclear deal on increasingly shaky ground, President Bush is running out of time to implement this deeply flawed and dangerous agreement. This is welcome news for everyone concerned with stopping the spread of nuclear weapons around the world. The collapse of this nuclear deal is a win for nuclear sanity.”

“Even if somehow the Bush Administration and the Indian government bring this deal back to life, enormous hurdles remain. India needs to negotiate an International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards agreement, the Nuclear Suppliers Group must change the international rules of nuclear supply, and the United States Congress must again vote and give its final approval. None of these are guaranteed. In fact, the constant breakdowns and delays are making each of these steps less and less likely to ever occur.

“In particular, doubts among my colleagues in Congress about the deal have grown, as it becomes clear that President Bush granted concessions to India which are clearly inconsistent with the conditions the Congress laid out for the agreement last year. India’s deepening economic and military ties to Iran have also caused anxiety in Washington.

“The collapse of this deal is a good news for nonproliferation and any dent in the U.S.-India relationship will be both slight, and temporary. I believe that our bilateral relationship will continue to flourish, and citizens of both countries will be living in a safer world because of the collapse of the U.S.-India nuclear deal.”