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Contradicts U.S. obligations: Xinhua

``There are still several legal hurdles to be removed before the U.S. and India start civil nuclear cooperation"

Beijing: Maintaining its strident opposition to the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal, the Chinese State media has accused Washington of contradicting its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

``The bill set a precedent for India, which is not a signatory to the NPT. The U.S. Atomic Energy Act prohibits nuclear sales to non-NPT signatories,'' the Xinhua news agency said soon after the U.S. Congress approved the legislation that would help implement the deal.

``The legislation is also in contradiction to the obligations of Washington as a lead signatory to the NPT. The treaty obligates its signatories not to provide assistance to the nuclear programmes of states that did not sign the NPT,'' Xinhua said.

``There are still several legal hurdles to be removed before the U.S. and India start civil nuclear cooperation, including a comprehensive agreement on technical elements of the bill, which again needs Congressional approval,'' the Chinese news agency noted. — PTI

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