"Letter to Manmohan Singh from U.S. Congress," May 2, 2007.

Members of Congress including the Chairman Tom Lantos and Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Reps. Howard Berman, Gary Ackerman, Ike Pence, Edward Royce, Brad Sherman, wrote a letter, dated May 2, 2007, to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, expressing grave concern about India’s cooperation with Iran. In the letter, they expressed deep concern about India's relations with Iran, warned that the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal might be jeopardized by the continuation of these relations, and also expressed grave concern about illegal efforts to procure sensitive technology for India's ballistic missile program. They demanded that India "cease illicit procurement activities in the U.S., sever military cooperation with Iran, and terminate India's participation in the development of Iran's energy sector.

Here is the text of the letter:

Dear Prime Minister Singh:

We are writing to express our grave concern regarding several recent developments that, if left unaddressed, have the potential to significantly harm prospects for the establishment of the "global partnership" between the United States and India that you and President Bush announced on July 18th, 2005 and for peaceful nuclear cooperation between our two countries.

As you are aware, on April 2nd, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted several individuals in the United States for allegedly conspiring with the government of India - including an employee of the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C. - to illegally procure sensitive technology for India's ballistic missile program. This activity, which apparently occurred as recently as April 2006, appears to be a significant violation of India's September 2004 pledge not to "obtain or use U.S. origin licensable items in contravention of U.S. export control laws and regulations" and is inconsistent with efforts to increase the level of trust between our two nations.

Regarding Iran, we are deeply concerned by India's increasing cooperation with that country, including the exchange of visits between high-level officials, enhanced military ties, and negotiation of agreements to establish closer economic relations.

Read the rest of the letter here =>Recommend this Post

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