'Indo-US nuke deal would win Congressional approval'

Washington, Mar 10: US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Richard Boucher has expressed confidence that the India-US civilian nuclear deal would win Congressional approval as lawmakers realise its importance for the nation.

Talking to newsmen at the State Department here yesterday Mr Boucher, who took over his position from Ms Christina Rocca a fortnight ago, said members of the Congress belonging to the Republican and Democratic parties understand that the new relationship with India is very important to the United States and the agreement brings India into the nonproliferation regime.

India, he said, was willing to take on new obligations and has placed 65 per cent of its reactors under international permanent safeguards at a time when a number of other countries are violating their obligations.

He said he was confident that once the administration submits the legislation to Congress, it would do everything possible to ensure a smooth passage.

''This (the nuclear deal) is an issue for the nation as a whole, and it is not going to divide up on partisan lines,' he said.

Noting that there were bound to be some questions and concerns from lawmakers on whether it is the right way to do Mr Boucher said ''I think we have the answers to those questions and we find the support we need to do this. I do not see an antagonistic process in the Congress.'' He was answering questions on how the India-US civilian nuclear deal announced by President Bush during his recent trip to India would be dealt with by lawmakers before it gets their seal of approval.

Mr Boucher said a lot of work was done to achieve this by present as well as the previous administration.

''It is an initiative which is very important to a lot of people on the Hill and everybody wants to contribute to the growth of the US-India relationship,'' he added.

Regarding any timeline for the legislation to take effect Mr Boucher said that there was no fixed time limit on getting the deal approved by the Congress but indicated that it could happen this week or after the Congress recess.

He also noted that even though the agreement does not include India's nuclear weapons programme, it would cover the majority of its nuclear capacity.

Currently, civilian nuclear facilities comprise 65 per cent of India's total nuclear capacity. From a non-proliferation standpoint, this was a major benefit, he added.

When asked whether Washington would have a similar deal with Pakistan Mr Boucher repeated what President Bush had said in Islamabad.

''Pakistan and India are different countries with different needs and different histories,'' he said.

The reference to ''different histories'' was an obvious pointer to the track record of India and Pakistan in the nuclear field.

Washington has maintained that India was a responsible nuclear power in contrast to Pakistan's clandestine help in the sphere to some countries highlighted by the actions of its top scientist A Q Khan, now under house arrest.

To a question on the Iran-Pak-India gas pipeline Mr Boucher reiterated that the US does not support it.

While the U S recognised the growing energy needs of India and Pakistan, ''we have repeatedly expressed concerns about international participation in energy projects with Iran,'' he added.

Tripartite talks on the Iran-India-Pakistan gas pipeline project are to be held in Tehran between March 13 and 15 for the export of Iranian natural gas to South Asia.

The 2,600-kilometre pipeline, valued at over seven billion dollars, was first proposed in 1994.

UNI

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