N-Deal: ‘Several other issues dominating America’

Notwithstanding the bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, the Indo-US civil nuclear deal appears to have taken a backseat in the American scheme of things as a vigorous Presidential campaign has assumed centre stage.

Notwithstanding the bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, the Indo-US civil nuclear deal appears to have taken a backseat in the American scheme of things as a vigorous Presidential campaign has assumed centre stage.

However, Indo-US ties will remain unaffected if the nuclear deal does not come through as the relationship is not confined only to the political sphere, feels a prominent Indian-American group.

“There are several other issues dominating the big scheme of things in the US and chances get more and more difficult to get people focus on the nuclear deal,” Sanjay Puri, Chairman of the US-India Political Action Committee (USINPAC), said.

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He said the new Presidency in the US would have its domestic priorities like the Iraq issue, the economic slowdown and other issues to deal with besides fulfilling the election promises.

“There will be new challenges for the new administration vis-a-vis the Iraq issue, economic crises, the immigration issues besides the poll promises,” Puri said.

USINPAC on its part has been lobbying hard in favour of the nuclear deal and has been meeting Congressmen and other influential people who matter in the American administration.

“The message we are trying to convey is that India is a democracy and there are going to be difficulties but we would like to see that the deal is done,” Puri said.

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According to Puri, the appointment of Howard Berman as Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs was a matter of concern as he had got a commitment from President George W Bush that the Hyde Act will prevail in governing the Indo-US nuclear deal.

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