Time over, says Gary Ackerman
Even as the Bush administration continued to push for the nuclear deal, an influential US legislator said that the US Congress will not have enough time to take up the nuclear deal.
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: Even as the Bush administration continued to push for the nuclear deal, an influential US legislator said that the US Congress will not have enough time to take up the nuclear deal.
Contrary to the reassuring noises on the deal from the administration, Congressman Gary Ackerman, who is chairman of the House of Representatives panel on west and south Asia, said that time has already run out for getting US Congressional approval for the 123 Agreement, the final step towards operationalising the nuclear deal.
���They���re not going to be able to do it in time for us to act in this calendar year and certainly not during President Bush���s administration,��� he told a news agency from Pakistan. ���The clock has run out on our side of the border, because the clock has run out on their side.���
Mr Ackerman, who starts his visit to India on Thursday, is the first US legislator to state in such clear terms that the deal would not be completed in the term of US president George W Bush, who demits office in January.
But the administration, which has continued to remind the UPA government about the diminishing timeline, is clearly going to attempt to clear the deal in the available time and within Mr Bush���s term. Early this week, state department spokesman Tom Casey reiterated the time is running out stand but said that the US understood the political difficulties facing the government.
���We have our own political calendar too, and our own legislative calendar, and it���s very difficult, at this point, to assume that we could be able to get an agreement through (Congress) but certainly we���ll make every effort,��� he said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh���s plan is to ensure that the nuclear deal reaches the US Congress by September-end.
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However, this calculation is based on the assumption that the IAEA board of governors will approve India-specific safeguards agreement and Nuclear Suppliers Group, which has 45 members, will grant a waiver to India by September. With the deal already running late, any further delays would only make it impossible for the Bush administration to get the US Congress nod for the 123 Agreement. aDownload
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