Take courageous decision on N-deal: US

US Govt has cautioned India against attempting a civil nuclear arrangement with other nations ignoring the US.

Asking the Indian government to take a 8220;courageous8221; decision on the civil nuclear deal considering the 8220;short timelines8221;, the Bush administration has cautioned it against attempting such an arrangement with other nations ignoring the US.

8220;We now are in the vanguard. We8217;re the leading country that will support the Nuclear Suppliers Group NSG in making an international case that all nations should engage in nuclear trade with India. That cannot happen without the US, because that NSG, of which we are a leading member, has to decide by a consensus,8221; the top US negotiator for the deal Nicholas Burns said.

8220;The Indian Government is not suggesting this, but in your worst-case scenario, if there was an attempt to say 8216;well, we8217;re going to forget about the deal with the US, but go forward8217;, it couldn8217;t happen, because the NSG wouldn8217;t make the decision in that case,8221; Burns, who is the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, said responding to a question.

Amid reports that New Delhi could abandon the US deal to engage in civil nuclear trade with other nations, Burns maintained it was 8220;impossible8221; because what has to happen has to happen in Washington.

Stressing that the timelines were 8220;short8221; to firm up the deal, Burns said: 8220;I think the Indian Government is quite sincere in wanting to push this agreement forward. There8217;s obviously a question of politics within the Indian Coalition, and we don8217;t want to interfere in internal affairs to the coalition in India.8221; 8220;But we do know this, as Senator Joseph Biden said last week and I think as Secretary Gates said when he was in India two days ago: time is very short,8221; Biden said.

The top US official said: 8220;Senator Biden had explained that for the US Congress to make a final vote on this issue in 2008, the entire agreement must land on the doorstep of the Congress by May or June of this year.

8220;If you back up from there, that means that the IAEA agreement must be made within a week or two, and it means the NSG would have to begin acting in the month of March. So there are very short timelines here, and I8217;m afraid it8217;s time for the government to decide,8221; he said.

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Stating that the deal was 8220;in the interest of both the US and India8221; and that it enjoyed 8220;strong support from Russia, from France, and even from the Chinese Government8221;, Burns said 8220;if India is to be given this great victory,.. there has to be a courageous decision made by the government to move forward.

We hope that decision will be positive8221;.

At a briefing at the Washington Press Centre, Burns highlighted the role of United States in 8220;bringing India out of nuclear isolation.

8220;India has not been able to trade in civil nuclear fuel or nuclear reactor technology for well over 35 years because of international sanctions against India, because of the activities that caused the beginning of the Indian nuclear programme in the 1970s,8221; Burns said.

8220;The United States now for the last three years has led the way to say: 8216;let8217;s bring India out of its nuclear isolation.8217; We were able to convince Congress to pass an American law that would allow American companies to trade with India for the first time since the 1970s,8221; he said.