By IANS
New Delhi : With the nuclear deal embroiled in political debate in India, the US Tuesday said that it “continues to encourage” New Delhi to take it forward as it would be “good for India, good for the world and good for the US”.
“In the recent period, we continue to be respectful of India’s democratic process and will continue to be,” US ambassador David C. Mulford said here while alluding to the debate on the nuclear deal in the upper house of Indian parliament.
“Our belief is that this initiative is good for India, good for the world and good for the US,” Mulford told business leaders and media at a function here to felicitate him for getting a top US award for exemplary diplomatic service.
About the debate in India over the nuclear deal, which aims at the resumption of global civilian nuclear commerce with New Delhi, the US envoy reminded New Delhi of strong bipartisan support for the enabling Hyde Act passed by the US Congress last year.
“Following the completion of negotiations on the 123 agreement, we continue to encourage the government of India’s move forward to complete the process that President (George) Bush and Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh have delineated and which when completed will bring profound economic and non-proliferation benefits,” he said.
Mulford said the passage of the Hyde Act, which provided a waiver from the US Atomic Energy Act, 1954 was an “outstanding example of bipartisan consensus and statesmanship”.
The Act was passed “at a time when its members were deeply divided along party lines on many important issues,” Mulford said.
He, however, refused to answer a question on the timeline for making the deal operational and for approaching the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) as the deal was being debated in the Indian parliament.
“This is an important day when the debate is taking place in parliament,” he said.
Mulford also exhorted India to speed up economic reforms in crucial sectors like insurance and financial services that will multiply economic ties between the two countries and said that Washington was seeking a partnership between the world’s largest democracies.
“The strategic relationship we have built for the last few years is of the highest priority. We seek the partnership between the world’s largest democracies, which are major powers in their own right.
“This is a worthy and honourable vision for the 21st century. I am proud to be associated with its early beginning,” he said.
The function was organised by the American Chamber of Commerce and the US embassy at Hotel La Meridien to felicitate Mulford on being conferred the state department’s inaugural Sue M. Cobb award for exemplary diplomatic service, which is presented to a non-career ambassador who uses private sector skills in advancing the US foreign policy.
Mulford stressed on the role of the private sector in shaping relations between the nations, saying that he considered himself more of a chief executive of the US embassy in India rather than US ambassador.
India is engaged in negotiating a safeguards agreement with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for its 14 civilian reactors in exchange for global nuclear commerce.
After India finalises safeguards pact with the IAEA, the US is expected to convene a special session of the NSG, which is required to change its guidelines before global nuclear commerce can begin with India after a gap of nearly three decades.
The 123 pact between India and the US also needs to be endorsed by an up and down vote in the US Congress before the landmark July 18, 2005 nuclear deal becomes operational.
The 123 pact needs to go to the US Congress early next year before election fever swamps Washington.