New foreign secy remains gung-ho

NEW DELHI: India on Sunday expressed that the Indo-US nuclear deal would get the approval of the US Congress as soon as possible, after the US Senate went into recess without voting on the legislation dealing with the deal.

Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, who formally took charge on Sunday from Shyam Saran, reiterated that the deal still enjoyed bipartisan support. “The bill actually enjoys bipartisan support and it is our hope that this will find its way through US domestic legal procedures as soon as possible,” said India’s new foreign secretary.

The new foreign secretary also reiterated that India would also like the terms to remain as they are. “I think our interest in the agreement, in it passing through Congress and our interest in the terms staying as they are, is quite clear,” Mr Menon said after taking charge.

Mr Saran, who now takes over as the special envoy for negotiating the deal, is likely to meet Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns in Delhi later this month. Many of the other strands of the deal including Nuclear Suppliers Group approval and developing IAEA safeguards are all hinged on the US Congress passing the deal.

Many NSG countries have been watching how the deal fares in the US Congress before committing support to India in the NSG. It remains to be seen if Republicans and Democrats will agree on a ‘Unanimous Consent Agreement’ during the lame duck session.