NEW DELHI, Jan 6: US envoy Richard Haass on Monday ruled out any quid pro quo deal with India against Pakistan even as Washington seeks to enlist New Delhi’s support over its Iraq policy, Star News said, quoting from an exclusive interview with the official.

Separately, Mr Haass told a meeting at the FICCI business club in New Delhi that the United States could only encourage India and Pakistan to hold peace talks but had no role in deciding whether the Line of Control should be converted into a permanent border.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s closest policy adviser, Mr Haass arrived in India to gather support for American action against Iraq.

In a concession to New Delhi, Mr Haass, however, was quoted as dropping a “clear hint” that the US might now be ready to tacitly accept India as a nuclear power. He said India was very different to Iraq or North Korea.

Asked if he thought India would drive a bargain for its support to the US policy on Iraq, Mr Haass said the United States did not believe in bargains.

“We do these things not as part of a bargaining process but simply because (we) agree with them,” he told the new channel.

“We don’t have any disagreements on the issue of terrorism as best I know. The US has pressed the Pakistanis to shut down all support for infiltration that goes across the LoC. I don’t see a fundamental disagreement there either. I don’t see this as a situation where if India steps forward, we will have to somehow reciprocate,” Mr Haass said.

“I would hope that the US and India would continue to consult closely about this (Iraq) and there could be opportunities or situations where the US could ask India to do certain things and I hope that the Indian government would see fit to do it,” Mr Haass said.

Four years ago, Washington had imposed sanctions on India for the nuclear tests.

Asked if the United States was today seeking Indian support for taking out another alleged weapons proliferator and if this meant that Washington was tacitly accepting India as a nuclear power, Mr Haass said he believed in realism.

“I would simply say we’re realistic and the US has lifted most of the sanctions that were put into place after India tested nuclear weapons,” he said. As a matter of principle, given the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the United States opposes the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction of any sort.

“Obviously this means chemical, biological, nuclear and what have you. But we are still prepared to see the situation on a case-by-case basis. Obviously the United States approaches India differently than it approaches North Korea or Iraq,” Mr Haass said.—Jay Enn