As uncertainty over the fate of the civil nuclear deal continues, the United States has said the pact is likely to clear the hurdles at International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, but the 'main stumbling block' is the internal political process in India.
"If the Indian government approves it, I do think that then what remains is to get an agreement with the IAEA and with the Nuclear Suppliers' Group. But I think those things are definitely feasible," Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said.
"Right now the main stumbling block is the internal Indian political process. And they are going to have to work that out," he said.
The top US official said the Indian government was 'committed' to the civil nuclear deal but it is being held up in the political process.
"At the moment, it's held up in the Indian political process... and they are having difficulty," Negroponte said, appearing in the Charlie Rose Show of PBS.
"The government is committed to it. But they have got their own coalition politics and political considerations to take into account," Negroponte said.
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said the US is 'never' going to declare the deal with India 'dead' because the arrangement is 'critically important'.
Perino made the statement when she was asked to comment on a perception in some quarters that the deal may be dead for reasons including the time left to process the initiative in the US Congress.
"We are never going to declare it dead because we think it's critically important," Perino said at her briefing.
"We are appreciative that the Indians are reconsidering their position
that they continue to have dialogue about it. And the fact that they are here in Washington talking about it is a good sign," Perino said, referring to the recent visit of the Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi.
Implementation of the nuclear deal has run into rough weather because of stiff opposition by the Left parties, which extend crucial outside support to the UPA government.
Operationalisation of the deal is three crucial steps away -- firming up of India-IAEA safeguards agreement, waiver by 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group to India for trade with international community and a final vote by the US Congress.
Negroponte said the bilateral ties between India and the US have witnessed significant improvement and Washington look at India much more strategically than in the past.
"India is an area where we really have had a significant improvement in the relationship with that country. And I think we look at India much more strategically than we used to. This is the second largest population in the world. It's a democratic country," Negroponte said.
"I see India as a large country, more than one billion people, which is democratic, and which the US cannot afford to ignore. I see it growing, interactions between our two countries including a burgeoning Indian-American population here in the US
a huge, growing middle class in that country, a very strong science and technology base," he said.
Asked if it is inevitable that India will be in conflict with China, Negroponte said he did not believe of a conflict in military terms. "No, I don't think conflict of that kind; competition, perhaps, yes. But both of them I think more and more are going to focus on developing their own internal economies, their own internal markets," Negroponte said.
Indo-US Nuclear Tango
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