The Hindu : Front Page : Nuclear deal is not dead but down to last days: Mulford

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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
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Nuclear deal is not dead but down to last days: Mulford

Priscilla Jebaraj

David Mulford

CHENNAI: While the New Delhi-Washington civilian nuclear deal is “not dead,” it is “down to the last days,” David Mulford, U.S. Ambassador to India, said on Monday. If Indian approval came through by June, the U.S. Congress would still be able to process it, he added.

During a visit to The Hindu office here, Mr. Mulford made it clear that while Congress could rework its timetables, time was running short. “We’re clearly at the point where there is, practically speaking, only a very narrow window to complete the process.”

The U.S. administration earlier indicated that India’s decision to go forward had to come through early this year to meet the schedule prescribed by Congress when it passed the Hyde Act. “As time has gone on, it’s become clear that we can no longer meet that timetable … But the United States Congress is an institution which has a small core of leaders who can decide to approach something differently,” the Ambassador explained, pointing to the comments of recent Congressional visitors indicating that they understand the delay and respect the local process.

Despite the continuing focus on the deal that has “sucked the oxygen out of everything else” in the bilateral relationship, he emphasised that other links of business, education and culture underscored the durable and diverse nature of the relationship.

One of the areas of growing cooperation is education, where Mr. Mulford looks forward to an expanded partnership in student and faculty exchanges, capital investments and the Fulbright programme. The Indian government has agreed, in principle, to contribute half of the funding for the bilateral programme, and also raise money from the private sector to expand it from 150 to 600 or 700 scholars.

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