By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : Even as the Indian government put its landmark civil nuclear energy deal with the US on hold, the White House expressed confidence that it can still get it done.
“I think it’s too early to express disappointment. I think we have some work to do and I think we can get it done,” White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Monday as India’s ruling coalition ended another round of inconclusive talks with its communist allies opposed to the accord.
Asked where matters stood a week after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told President George W. Bush about “certain difficulties” in operationalising the deal, he said: “Well, we certainly remain committed to the civil nuclear agreement.
“We don’t believe we can close the book on that yet. I think there’s still some work to do. We want to work with India,” Fratto said noting “we understand that they have to deal with their local politics, just like we frequently have to deal with our local politics in dealing with these kinds of issues.”
“So we want to stay encouraged. We want to continue to dialogue with Indian authorities,” the official said.
He didn’t have a specific readout on last week’s conversation between Bush and Singh, who had set the nuclear deal rolling in July 2005, “but I can assure you that the president would have reiterated our commitment to that agreement and our interest in having it accomplished.”
Asked if Bush was disappointed, Fratto said: “I think it’s too early to express disappointment. I think we have some work to do and I think we can get it done.”
Under pressure from the communists, New Delhi has refrained from taking the next steps in cinching the deal – negotiating separate agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) that controls export of nuclear material worldwide.
After these two steps, the implementation of the 123 accord has to get a final nod from the US Congress which had passed the enabling Hyde Act with overwhelming bipartisan support last December.
Although there is no formal deadline to complete the process, the Bush administration is keen to get it done before the legislature gets into election mode for next year’s presidential poll. Bush would like to leave the White House in January 2009 with a major foreign policy success rather than hand it to his successor.
The deal that would allow resumption of nuclear trade between India and US after 30 years has its critics in America too. Its opponents say providing US fuel to India would free up India’s limited domestic supplies of nuclear material for use in atomic weapons.