By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : The White House Saturday hailed the waiver given to India by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) lifting a 34-year-old global embargo on nuclear trade with New Delhi as a “historic achievement”.
The US also thanked members of the 45-member nuclear cartel for “their outstanding efforts to welcome India into the non-proliferation community”, National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in an e-mail statement.
“This is a historic achievement that strengthens global non-proliferation principles while assisting India to meet its energy requirements in an environmentally friendly manner,” the senior White House official stated.
“The agreement is the product of an unprecedented three-year effort by the United States and India and is an important step in strengthening the strategic partnership envisioned by President (George Bush) and Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh,” Johndroe added.
“The United States thanks the participating governments in the NSG for their outstanding efforts and cooperation to welcome India into the global non-proliferation community. We especially appreciate the role Germany played as chair to move this process forward,” he said.
Earlier, Bush and Manmohan Singh spoke on telephone to congratulate each other. They expressed their belief that mutually beneficial relations between India and the US were in the interest of their peoples, and were on a path of steady consolidation and multifaceted expansion, to which they reiterated their commitment.
Manmohan Singh thanked Bush for his role in taking forward the civil nuclear initiative and the NSG decision to adjust its guidelines to enable full civil nuclear cooperation between India and the international community.