The Hindu : International / India & World : India has done its bit, up to U.S. now: Saran

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 26, 2006

International

International - India & World

India has done its bit, up to U.S. now: Saran

Hasan Suroor

Delay by the U.S. Congress in approving deal "worrying both sides," but outlook is "positive"

LONDON: India's Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran has acknowledged that the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal is taking longer than New Delhi would have liked but said that the outlook is "positive."

Speaking to media persons after discussions with the U.S. Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns here on Thursday, Mr. Saran said that there was still work to be done. He suggested that India had done its bit and the ball was in the U.S. court now.

Asked whether there was concern in India that the deal was taking too long to be approved by the American Congress, Mr. Saran said the "worry" was on both sides. Both were keen on seeing it through as quickly as possible and in fact, India had done most of the work it was obliged to do as part of the agreement.

Mr. Saran said it was now for the U.S. Congress to approve the deal and reiterated, in response to a question, that it was the "responsibility" of the U.S. Government to make sure that it was approved by Congress.

He said that Mr. Burns gave him an account of where the process now stood in Congress.

"Our sense is that while work still remains to be done, the outlook is positive," he added, pointing that both sides saw the "merit" of wrapping up the deal quickly. Asked whether India had a timeframe in mind, Mr. Saran said he wished it was in "our" hands to do it. He emphasised that the U.S. Government was committed to the deal and the effort was now on to see that the necessary legislation was adopted by Congress "sooner than later." There was a "general perception" on both sides that they were on track.

Mr. Saran said that he gave to Mr. Burns India's own draft on bilateral nuclear cooperation but did not give details. Other issues that came up for discussion included Iran, Sri Lanka and the situation in Nepal.

On Iran, Mr. Saran said India wanted the controversy over Teheran's nuclear programme to be settled through diplomatic means and warned that a confrontation would have "disastrous consequences."

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail