N-deal: ‘It’s up to US to ensure passage of Bill’

Reacting to the statement of Congressman Tom Lantos that India should first negotiate with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) then sign a bilateral agreement with the US before the Congress takes up the proposed India-US Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation Agreement, India on Friday made it clear that ‘‘it’s up to the US administration to ensure the passage of the necessary legislation’’.

The Indian Express today reported Lantos’s remarks about US Congress taking up the proposed agreement.

‘‘It is for the US to ensure the passage of appropriate legislation in the Congress to enable the Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation with India on the basis of the reciprocal understanding contained in the Indo-US joint statement of July 18, 2005 and the separation plan presented to the Indian Parliament on March 7, 2006,’’ the MEA spokesperson said.