John Kerry cautiously endorses India-US nuclear deal

NEW DELHI: Senior US Democrat John Kerry on Thursday publicly endorsed the Bush administrations nuclear pact with India but was uneasy at some of the ramifications it would have on the international non proliferation regime, at a time when Iran was trying to back out of its commitment to the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty it had signed.

Though Kerry did not spell it out, it was evident that the US lawmakers like him would closely watch the stand India takes on the Iran’s current nuclear stand-off with Washington.

With Tehran taking a belligerent stand there is a renewed effort by the Bush administration to drag Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. Before that the IAEA would have to meet and vote on the issue. India is a member of the IAEA board of governors, which will take the decision.

“In principle, I support the deal. It is a great game, a positive game, for India, for the US and the global community,” he told reporters here. Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate who was defeated by George Bush in the last elections is in a tour of the region.

The Democrats support Bush’s move to have more extensive co-operation with India at all levels. In fact, it was during President Bill Clinton’s second term in office that India-US ties made a paradigm shift for the better. Bush has followed his predecessor’s steps and increased the strategic nature of Indo-US ties.

Kerry met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last evening and discussed the India-US civilian nuclear agreement.

He claimed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured him that India was willing to sign the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT). In India there is a strong lobby opposed to the signing of the FMCT. These experts fear that the treaty would cap India’s nuclear capability.

However, when Prime Minister Singh gave Senator Kerry this assurance he was reiterating what is already in the joint agreement of July 18. However, till such time the FMCT comes into force, there is no restriction on the production of fissile material. The treaty is still being negotiated and would take a long time to conclude.

China at the moment is opposing the cut-off date, and until China is on board, the fissile material cut-off treaty remains inconclusive. Kerry’s endorsement comes at a time when Congress has to vote on changing the US domestic laws to allow the flow of civilian nuclear technology to India.