US ambassador David Mulford batted for beleaguered prime minister Manmohan Singh, welcoming India’s decision to take the Indo-US civil nuclear deal to its logical conclusion.
NEW DELHI: US ambassador David Mulford batted for beleaguered prime minister Manmohan Singh on Friday, welcoming India’s decision to take the Indo-US civil nuclear deal to its logical conclusion.
His support to Singh is likely to further provoke the Left to allege the government was working hand-in-glove with the US, but not in tune with the people of India.
Initially, Mulford had left it to president George W Bush and the US administration in Washington to comment on India’s decision to circulate the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) draft agreement to members of the board of governors.
On Friday, however, he issued a statement welcoming the government move. He also said the US would follow through the deal at the IAEA, Nuclear Suppliers Group and finally, in the US Congress.
“This historic initiative is a significant component of the strategic partnership envisioned by president George W Bush and prime minister Manmohan Singh. The US-India civil nuclear initiative will help India meet its growing energy demands in an economically-efficient and environment-friendly manner and strengthen the global nonproliferation regime,” Mulford said.
Whether the nuclear deal goes through or not only time will tell, but the fact remains that Indian negotiators have got an excellent draft agreement with the IAEA. In fact, several Western diplomats have questioned the fuss over it.
“It’s quite astounding to see the kind of criticism that is being levied on the deal. Few countries could have pulled off what India has, yet we have a situation where the government has been reduced to a minority,” a diplomat said. Arundhuti Ghosh, former Indian ambassador to the UN and one who follows the nuclear debate closely, had this to say, “India has got fuel supply guarantee, holding a strategic fuel reserve and the right to take ‘corrective steps’ if the fuel supply is disrupted. The fact that these steps are not specified gives India an added advantage. I think it is remarkable what they have got in the draft agreement. It is everything that we wanted. A lot of people are talking about these things being in the preamble, so not legal. This is junk.”
g_seema@dnaindia.net
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