US leaves nuclear deal timing to India

WASHINGTON: The United States says it supports India in its efforts to complete the remaining steps to conclude their civil nuclear deal, but would leave the timing to New Delhi.

Apparently mindful of the crisis facing the Indian government over opposition to the deal from its communist allies, a US official sought to downplay reports that India had not yet approached the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to get its nod.

Asked if IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei's reported remarks that New Delhi hadn't approached him yet to begin talks on the issue troubled Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack noted Tuesday that several steps were needed to finally conclude the deal.

"It's going to be up to the Indian government to go through some of those steps on their own.  There are some things that they will need to do by themselves.  Of course, we support them in those efforts.  The timing of that is going to be up to them, though," he said.

On its part, the Bush administration will also keep working with members of US Congress to reassure them of the importance of the deal, not only for the US government but for its global non-proliferation efforts, McCormack said.

"We're going to keep working with not only those two representatives but others in the Congress to move forward on this deal," he said when asked to comment on a bipartisan resolution introduced by two members of the US House of Representatives asking the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to take a tough stance on the deal.

"They're important voices and they have raised some issues.  And we want to engage them to be able to reassure them of the importance of this deal, not only for the US government but for our non-proliferation efforts worldwide," he said.

India faces an informal end-October deadline to begin securing clearances from the IAEA and the 45-member NSG that controls global nuclear trade to clinch the deal before the US Congress goes into election mode early next year.

While the deal has run into trouble in India due to opposition from the Left parties which allege it would make India subservient to US interests, some members of the US Congress say the deal unfairly rewards India and undercuts a US-led campaign to curtail nuclear ambitions of nations like Iran.

An embattled President George Bush also looks at the landmark nuclear deal as his administration's biggest foreign policy achievement. The accord would allow India to import US nuclear fuel and reactors, besides having access to high-technology cooperation so far denied, despite conducting nuclear tests and not signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

While India can move ahead with the agreement without parliamentary approval, the deal must go for a final approval to the US Congress that allowed Bush administration to negotiate an implementing 123 agreement under a controversial enabling law passed last December.