Pressing India to conclude the agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and seek a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group by May, the United States on Wednesday voiced confidence that the deadline will be met despite stiff political opposition in India.
US assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher maintained that the Hyde Act will apply in terms of allowing the US administration to pursue civil nuclear cooperation with India but refused to clearly spell out the fallout on the agreement if India were to conduct an atomic test.
"The time is short. The time is tight, very tight and there is lot of work to be done," Boucher said when asked about the fate of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The US official, who discussed the status of nuclear deal with Indian officials, said realistically, New Delhi should firm up the safeguards agreement with IAEA and seek a waiver from NSG by May to give the US Congress time to have a final vote on the agreement.
Asked whether he was optimistic, he replied in the affirmative. "We can make that happen," he said.
To a question about opposition by political parties to the deal, Boucher said the US 'understands' such processes which are normal in democracies and it was for the government in India to see how to 'overcome' these as there is not much time.
On the status of India-IAEA talks, he said New Delhi had conveyed that it will communicate to Washington when the agreement is finalised. He assumed that it will take up to two weeks to conclude the agreement.
Maintaining that the nuclear deal is good for India as well as the US, Boucher said the government in India realises it and was keen to push it.
When referred to the opposition to the deal, he said, "The US understands the political realities in India, but there is a need to understand the political realities of the US as well".
"We deal with the government that is in place. It is for the governments to handle their own politics domestically," he said adding it was for the United Progressive Alliance government to take care of political considerations within the country.
Observing that the clearance from the NSG would take couple of weeks, he expressed confidence that the 45-nation grouping will grant a waiver in favour of India as the nuclear deal is 'good for non-proliferation'.
He said there would be 'legitimate questions' from various countries over the non-proliferation issues, but there will be equally 'good answers' to these.
"We have to work hard with countries. In the end, everybody will find it beneficial," he said.
The US official refused to speculate on what stance China would take at the NSG.
Asked whether the Hyde Act would have any implications on Indo-US nuclear cooperation, Boucher said it was a "domestic legislation which determines what we can do".
Pointing out that Hyde Act is an enabling legislation, he said, "Its main function is to allow this kind of cooperation (with India). The fundamental purpose of Hyde Act is to allow us to conclude the arrangement that we have finalised and that is what we are doing".
"The 123 agreement binds India and puts US and India in some framework," he said, adding, "I don't see any contradiction between the two".
"What we do as per our law is completely consistent with what we are doing with India in terms of international agreement," Boucher said.
Asked what will happen to the nuclear cooperation if India were to conduct an atomic test, the US official was evasive, saying that the US laws and the 123 Agreement are 'clear on that and I don't want to get into speculating'.
Pressed further, he said the US law and 123 are 'consistent' but refused to elaborate.
Under the US law, Washington will snap its nuclear cooperation if any country, that is not a signatory to NPT, conducts a nuclear test.
The 123 agreement talks about end to nuclear cooperation if such circumstances arise but there will be one-year notice period during which it will be assessed as to whether or not the provocation for the circumstances were legitimate.
To a question, Boucher suggested that there would be no impact on the growing relations if the nuclear deal fails to come through despite it being an important aspect in the ties.
He said he discussed with Indian officials the ways to enhance relations in various fields. In the field of defence, the two sides discussed the security needs besides technical cooperation.
He emphasised that the 'touchstone' of the Indo-US relationship is students and scholars.
Cooperation in Central Asia in the fields like energy, education and culture was also discussed in the meetings Boucher had with Indian officials.
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