Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona on Tuesday said he has not taken a position on the US signing on to an Additional Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency to implement the proposed civil nuclear deal with India.
Reports had suggested he was against the Additional Protocol and wanted it to be debated and voted upon separately.
Kyl's clarification was in response to a Washington datelined item on the Senate taking up the bill on the civil nuclear deal, where it was pointed out that lawmakers like him are not satisfied with the kind of obligations Washington is signing on to by way of the Additional Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
It had said this was especially because it pertained to inspections and payments and even perhaps a perceived interference in the fashion Americans would want to run their nuclear programmes.
"We have not made a position yet," Senator Kyl's press secretary Ryan Patmintra told PTI.
Although "tags" are a routine part of the American legislative process, in the present instance it is felt in several quarters that Title 2 of Senate Bill S 3709 is more than just a political nuisance as it runs the risk of jeopardising the major and substantive part of the legislation dealing with the Indo-US nuclear deal.
