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Lot of work and not much time: Boucher

Sandeep Dikshit

Nuclear deal may face close scrutiny by members of Nuclear Suppliers Group

— Photo: V. Sudershan

Lobbying for deal: The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Richard Boucher (right), with U.S. Ambassador David C. Mulford in New Delhi on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: Pointing out that India had a very tight deadline ahead to seal the nuclear deal, the U.S. on Wednesday hinted that the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) members, many of whom are strongly committed to non-proliferation, would closely question India.

Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher told newspersons that “time is very very short and there is an awful lot of work to be done.” The official did not see any contradiction between the Hyde Act and the India-U.S. 123 Agreement.

He refused to speculate about the turn of events in case India conducted another nuclear test. The U.S understood India’s domestic political processes but it too must reciprocate by comprehending the situation in the United States.

He said the U.S. and India had held preliminary talks on working together in central Asia. “It is just the beginning. We are looking at what we can do. We compared notes in energy developments and other areas and examined what we are doing.”

Though the safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was nearing finalisation, there are “other important pieces of the puzzle that have to be put together before actual trade can begin. We do understand that time is short and we are under various time pressures. Both have political processes and democratic processes to go through and the goal was to work within those democratic systems. At this particular moment, India is working out the agreement with the IAEA and then we go to other pieces and we are ready for those once the Indians are.”

Asked about the timeline, he said that India must get the deal ratified by the U.S. Congress by July. “For that [to happen] you have to put it before the Congress by June. So if you work backwards, you see that each step requires an accelerated timetable. I am optimistic because the deal is good for India and good for the United States. But there is a lot of work to do.”

Mr. Boucher would not predict how long it would take for the NSG to give a special exemption to India but thought at least a month or two should be given to its members who are very committed to non-proliferation goals.

“They will have a lot of questions to ask. We think the deal is important to bring India in the nuclear power mainstream. Therefore, we will have to work with those countries and help them understand what the implications are.”

Mr. Boucher felt all the questions raised at the NSG will be by countries “very immersed” in non-proliferation matters and who have “been used to a certain way of doing things and this agreement is a little bit different.”

Pressed again for the timeline, the U.S. official elaborated: “We need to get IAEA approval, that takes a couple of weeks, we need to take the NSG approval, that takes a couple of few months, then we got to get the documents ready for the Congress, that can take a little while too. Then we have to give our Congress sufficient time to consider the final package, that takes a month or two as well. When you start adding things up and we are in overtime right now. We have an awful lot of work to do and not a lot of time. I think everybody understands that reality.”

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