By IANS
New Delhi : The India-US civil nuclear deal is a “positive agreement”, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema said here Wednesday.
“We see this (nuclear deal) as a positive agreement as it can provide verification of the civilian nuclear facilities,” D’Alema, also Italy’s foreign minister, said.
He pointed out that while India’s 1998 nuclear tests had not been well received internationally, the geo-political situation had to be constantly assessed anew.
“The nuclear test by India was not good news, but now we have to conceive the issue realistically,” added D’Alema, who arrived Tuesday on a four-day visit.
He stressed that Italy had “strong faith” in International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei and hoped India would be able to negotiate with him the safeguards rule.
This is not the first time that Italy has publicly stated that it was supportive of India’s entry on the international stage of nuclear commerce.
During Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s visit in February, both countries had agreed to discuss “forward-looking approaches” for cooperation in civil nuclear energy “under appropriate IAEA safeguards”.