US says its time to move forward on N-deal
Seeking "expeditious action" on the civilian nuclear deal with India, the US has said that both sides should "now move forward" to complete the "important" agreement which is in their "best interests".
By PTI |
WASHINGTON: Seeking "expeditious action" on the civilian nuclear deal with India, the US has said that both sides should "now move forward" to complete the "important" agreement which is in their "best interests".
"I am very much involved in this agreement between India and the United States, and I've been in touch with the Indian government as recently as Thursday and Friday of last week," Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said in London, according to a transcript made available here.
Burns was asked at the Foreign Press Association in London to comment on the status of the nuclear deal as also on a remark by the US Ambassador in New Delhi, David Mulford, that it is "now or never".
"It's an agreement that is entirely in the best interests of both countries. It's going to bring India out of its nuclear isolation dating back to the mid-1970s. It's going to allow civil nuclear trade of all countries with India: the provision of nuclear fuel, the construction of nuclear power reactors.
"It will allow India to go from 3 per cent reliance on nuclear energy, hopefully to say 20-25 per cent in a generation, with enormously positive benefits for global climate change and carbon reductions in the process. So, there's a lot to like in this agreement," Burns said.
Now, the pact "has to be completed and I would say that it's time to move this agreement forward. I do agree with Ambassador Mulford, our excellent American Ambassador in Delhi, we don't have all the time in the world. We are, quite famously, in an election year in the United States. The Congressional calendar is crowded," Burns said.
"I am very much involved in this agreement between India and the United States, and I've been in touch with the Indian government as recently as Thursday and Friday of last week," Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said in London, according to a transcript made available here.
Burns was asked at the Foreign Press Association in London to comment on the status of the nuclear deal as also on a remark by the US Ambassador in New Delhi, David Mulford, that it is "now or never".
"It's an agreement that is entirely in the best interests of both countries. It's going to bring India out of its nuclear isolation dating back to the mid-1970s. It's going to allow civil nuclear trade of all countries with India: the provision of nuclear fuel, the construction of nuclear power reactors.
"It will allow India to go from 3 per cent reliance on nuclear energy, hopefully to say 20-25 per cent in a generation, with enormously positive benefits for global climate change and carbon reductions in the process. So, there's a lot to like in this agreement," Burns said.
Now, the pact "has to be completed and I would say that it's time to move this agreement forward. I do agree with Ambassador Mulford, our excellent American Ambassador in Delhi, we don't have all the time in the world. We are, quite famously, in an election year in the United States. The Congressional calendar is crowded," Burns said.
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