WASHINGTON, Oct 20: The 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group has put off action on a US proposal to modify its rules for allowing India to receive nuclear materials from member states for non-military use.
The United States had sent two key officials — Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation Stephen Rademaker and Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca — to an NSG meeting in Vienna this week to persuade member states to lift restraints on transferring nuclear technology to India.
The proposal is a key element of a US-India nuclear cooperation deal that the two countries are trying to complete by early next year.
But US officials told reporters in Washington that the NSG meeting ended on Wednesday without any decision on the US request to give India a permanent exception to international rules barring nuclear cooperation.
The officials said that while several member states responded positively, the group deferred a decision until at least the next meeting. At the meeting, Britain, France, and Canada were generally supportive, but Sweden asked “hard questions” and Japan seemed wary of the India deal, officials said.
US Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns, who is now in India for talks on the Indo-US nuclear deal, had told reporters before his departure that the US hopes to finalize the deal during President Bush’s visit to New Delhi early next year.
The Bush administration is trying to complete the NSG approval process before the visit but the next scheduled NSG session is in May, so getting that group to approve the rules change before the visit would require a special meeting.
Some US officials also are worried that the US Congress — where members of both parties have expressed skepticism -– may not endorse required changes to US law before Mr Bush’s visit.
The officials say that it is important for Congress to act before the nuclear-suppliers group to strengthen the US case for amending international regulations. But many US lawmakers -– both in the ruling and the Democratic parties -– fear the agreement excessively benefits India and undermines efforts to halt proliferation.
Congressional leaders are pressing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to consult them before proposing legislation to implement the agreement. Mr Burns said that the administration hopes to propose legislation to implement the deal early in 2006, after India drafts the separation plan. For nearly 30 years the US led the global campaign to deny India access to nuclear technology.
