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123 Agreement won’t be reopened: Burns

SINGAPORE: The United States does “not foresee” its civil nuclear energy agreement with India “being reopened by either side.”

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said this here on Monday in an interaction with a select group of journalists.

“The 123 Agreement is finished, it’s done; it’s completed. It just stands to be approved finally by both governments.”

The U.S. would “now need to wait for India to make a final decision on putting the safeguards agreement forward.”

He was referring to the ongoing talks between India and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Noting that it was entirely up to the Government of India to navigate the “internal politics” over the issue, he emphasised that Washington had “always felt that this civil nuclear deal is in the best interests of both countries.”

Mr. Burns said: “It is part and parcel of a new effort to try and elevate the U.S.-India relationship to a strategic partnership. We are confident that this deal should go forward.”

Tracing the dynamics of the potential process at the Nuclear Suppliers Group “to support international change[s] to treat India in a more fair and effective manner,” he expressed the hope that a final vote in the U.S. Congress could take place sometime at the beginning of 2008.

He said: “Then, this deal will be finished. It will be a start, because it will deliver India from its isolation in the civil nuclear field for the last 35 years. It will give India extraordinary economic and technological benefits. It will allow us to have a more equal relationship with India, all of us in the international community, not just the United States but all of us.

“In that respect, it is a fundamentally important agreement. We hope and trust it will go forward, but I don’t want to comment on the internal politics of India. That is up to the Indian Government, not for me.”

On the stalled Japanese proposal for a quadrilateral forum consisting of the U.S., Japan, India, and Australia, Mr. Burns said the “priority emphasis,” in Washington’s perspective now, was “the geometry” of its ties with treaty allies in the Asia Pacific region. These “allies” were Japan and Australia.

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123 Agreement won’t be reopened: Burns

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