Thursday, October 27 2005 14:08 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: American lawmakers have urged the Bush administration to be transparent on sharing information on the Indo-US nuclear deal even as experts have warned that the deal was against their country's interests.

Claiming that Indian officials know more than US Congressmen about the deal, signed in July during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Washington, Republican Representative Henry Hyde said the Congress had received 'little if any information' from the Government on this count.

Hyde, who chairs the House of Representatives International Relations Committee, said during a hearing yesterday, "as it stands, the situation is both strange and unusual in that the Indian authorities know more about this important proposal than we in the Congress". He rued that the Bush administration had neither shared with the Congress details of its ongoing negotiations with the Indian Government nor the legislation it planned to introduce to implement the deal.

The House of Representatives and the Senate, he said, had written to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, requesting that the Government begin urgent consultations on the deal with the Congress.

Nuclear experts testified that the deal was fraught with danger and was against US interests.

"The agreement could pose serious risks to the security of the United States", warned David Albright, president of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security.