Washington: Even before US President George W Bush signs the legislation on the India-US civil nuclear deal into law on Monday, Washington has started championing India's cause in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
"Passage of the India Bill by the US Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support is a very powerful message to the NSG countries that the US is going to push very hard for India and be India's champion at the NSG. That's the message we are getting out to all the countries that sit on the NSG," US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R Nicholas Burns said.
"The deal in the Congress is going to have a galvanising effect on the NSG. I suspect strongly that some countries are just waiting to see whether or not the United States will fully commit itself to the deal," Washington's chief negotiator on the deal said.
Burns said he had been working with the NSG members to convince them to agree by a consensus that international nuclear practice must be changed to accommodate New Delhi after the deal and he was pretty confident that they would do so.
He was also confident that China too would eventually back the agreement, notwithstanding negative commentary from Beijing's state-run media. "I'd be very surprised if China tries to block the deal. I think China understands how important this deal is," he said.
Burns said Washington was now awaiting New Delhi's response to a draft proposal he had left behind for the conclusion of the so-called 123 Agreement, named after the relevant section of the US Atomic Energy Act 1954 for nuclear cooperation with foreign countries. "I am sure it will come quickly," he added.
"Once we get the response to our proposal, we will make sure that our team is available immediately for a meeting," he said. As indicated by India's chief negotiator Shyam Saran and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, Burns said: "All of us want to push these negotiations forward at a very rapid pace in January and February and I am optimistic that we'll be able to complete this."
The US official said he has briefed Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and some of his European counterparts about the agreement and the response had been positive. But any announcement about countries supporting the new arrangement should come from the countries themselves, he said, disclosing that even before the legislation was passed a majority of the NSG members supported the deal.
Brushing aside residual opposition to the agreement in both US and India, Burns said any democratic society would have people on the opposite side of the barricade. The Indian Government had assured him that they would go ahead with the agreement, he added.
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