Bush admin optimistic about India-US nuke deal

Washington, May 19 : The Bush administration has refuted the India-US civilian nuclear deal was in "serious trouble" and said it is "optimistic" that the US Congress would ratify the agreement as it approaches a crucial vote in the Senate.

''I have not heard anyone using those terms in terms of the deal...our discussions with Senators and Congressmen have been very positive on this,'' State department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters here yesterday.

He said,'' We would like to say that we are optimistic about the deal going through in the Senate. But, again, we don't want to assume anything. We're not going to take anybody's vote for granted on the issue.'' ''We're going to do everything we can to see that every Senator and every Congressman who is interested in this issue has their questions answered and that we give them enough information so that they can feel comfortable in voting for this deal,'' he added.

Earlier, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns had met ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee Tom Lantos.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Senator Richard Lugar, Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senator Obama Barak yesterday.

''Ms Rice has been spending an enormous amount of time in the last two months on meeting with the lawmakers to allay their fears and concerns. The nuclear deal is among the top two of three issues that have occupied her time and attention,'' he said.

Mr McCormack said "variety of concerns" have been raised by the lawmakers about India's participation in fissile material cutoff, it's participation in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and how the deal "does or does not limit their ability to produce more fissile materials that could be diverted to a nuclear weapons programme".

To a specific question on whether the Bush administration is confident that the India-US civilian deal will be ratified by the Congress Mr McCormack said,''We don't want to assume anything, but we think we have a good case with this deal and believe we have a good case for the American people. It's a good case for the Indian people and overall, it benefits the international nonproliferation regime and efforts.'' Mr McCormack said,''There are a hundred votes up in the Senate and each individual senator is going to have to make up his or her mind how they vote on this.'' He said the administration was addressing their concerns, answering their questions, talking to them procedurally.

UNI

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