WASHINGTON, Sept 29: The United States has refused to set a timeline for finalizing an unprecedented nuclear deal it has signed with India, saying that it would make further moves only when the Indians are ready for it.
“We will deal with it as it comes. We’ll deal with it in terms of the opportunities that are there when India is ready to move forward,” Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher said when asked if there was any timeline for moving the deal forward.
The US Congress has already approved the operative part of the deal, signed more than two years ago, and is waiting for the Indian response.
Left-wing parties in the ruling coalition in India as well as some opposition groups, however, say that there are clauses in the operative document that limit India’s ability to enrich uranium for military purposes and attempt to influence New Delhi’s relations with other nations, particularly Iran.
At a briefing on recent developments in South Asia, Mr Boucher referred to the strong opposition the Indian government is facing in its parliament over the nuclear agreement and said that the United States would let the Indians sort out these problems first.
Mr Boucher said the issue did come up during discussions between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New York on Wednesday.
“We did talk about the steps down the road, but we’ll leave it to the Indians to work their way through the current political discussion in Delhi,” the US official said.
After the meeting held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, there was no briefing by either side and a brief press release issued by India’s UN mission did not mention specific subjects discussed. The Indian government, Mr Boucher said, was answering questions that had been raised in the Indian political system and “we understand that.”
The US itself had a “fair amount” of debate but in the end, the deal could get a strong majority in its favour in Congress, he said.
“We frankly at this juncture leave it to the Indians to work their way through the political issues, to answer questions that have been raised by their parliamentarians,” he added.
“We talked about how we can work together on the way forward as they (India) go to the International Atomic Energy Agency and then we go to the IAEA board, and then we both go to the Nuclear Suppliers Group,” Mr Boucher said.
