India full steam on N-deal
Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 9:07 am Under World News Alerts
The US has congratulated the UPA Government, which won the trust vote in the Lok Sabha, for its “deep resolve” to go ahead with the historic Indo-US civilian nuclear deal.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last night met Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma on the sidelines of ASEAN ministerial meet in Singapore.
The leaders had a “very good” meeting during which Rice appreciated India’s “resolve to go ahead with the historic nuclear deal”, highly-placed sources told. They discussed the “entire gamut of issues” relating to the deal, the sources said.
Sharma is heading the Indian delegation to the 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) of which New Delhi is a dialogue partner.
During the ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting attended by Sharma, the regional grouping said they welcomed the Indo-US agreement which would ensure energy security for India and hoped the countries would be able to conclude the pact soon.
After the government won the confidence motion on Tuesday night, the US had said it will work with Indian government to expedite the processes at IAEA and 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for an exemption for nuclear commerce.
An Indian delegation will later this week travel to various NSG countries to muster support for the nuclear deal, particularly focusing on nations which have had reservations so far on allowing exemption to India.
The government expects the IAEA Board of Governors to approve the India-specific safeguards agreement at its scheduled meeting on August one.
After the approval from the atomic watchdog, India will have to get a waiver by consensus from NSG to allow it to have civil nuclear cooperation with the international community.
The delegation will include ministers Kapil Sibal, Prithviraj Chavan and Anand Sharma besides National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and other officials of the Ministry of External Affairs.
India is lobbying hard to get support of NSG countries on the nuclear deal. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith yesterday hinted at supporting India’s case at the NSG during his meet with Sharma.
Condoleezza Rice will also be talking to leaders of Australia, New Zealand and other countries to garner support among the IAEA and NSG members for the nuclear deal.
(With inputs from PTI)
( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)
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