Take courageous stand on nuclear deal, says Burns

“The Indian Government is not suggesting this, but in your worst-case scenario, if there was an attempt to say ‘well, we’re going to forget about the deal with the US, but go forward’, it couldn’t happen, because the NSG wouldn’t make the decision in that case,” 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 “impossible” because what has to happen has to happen in Washington.

Stressing that the timelines were “short” to firm up the deal, Burns said: “I think the Indian Government is quite sincere in wanting to push this agreement forward. There’s obviously a question of politics within the Indian coalition, and we don’t want to interfere in internal affairs of the coalition in India.”

“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,” Biden said.

The top US official said: “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. 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 I’m afraid it’s time for the Government to decide.”

Stating that the deal was “in the interest of both the US and India” and that it enjoyed “strong support from Russia, from France, and even from the Chinese Government”, Burns said “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 positive”.