US sets July deadline for Indian nuke deal

NEW DELHI—India must complete by July all steps needed to conclude a nuclear technology deal with Washington to ensure the US Congress approves it before the presidential polls, three US senators said on Wednesday.
The India-US civilian nuclear energy deal has been held up due to stiff opposition from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Communist allies who prop up the minority Congress-led government. “Time is of the essence,” said Joseph Biden, one of three Democratic senators who were on a one-day visit to New Delhi after monitoring Pakistan’s parliamentary elections earlier this week.
The pact still needs approval from the International Atomic Energy Agency to place India’s civilian nuclear reactors under UN safeguards as well as from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, which regulates global civilian nuclear trade. The agreement, which would give New Delhi crucial access to civilian atomic technology, requires final approval by the US Congress where it currently enjoys bipartisan support.
But Washington officials say the deal is running out of time with a tight 2008 legislative calendar ahead of November’s US presidential elections. “If we don’t have the deal back with us clearly prior to the month of July it will be very difficult to ratify the deal — not on the merits (of the deal) but on the mechanics on which our system functions,” Biden told a news conference.
He warned that if the deal did not reach the US Congress in time, “it is highly unlikely the next president will be able to present the same deal. “It will be renegotiated,” he said. Biden’s warning came a week after India’s most prominent Marxist politician Prakash Karat said his party wanted to see India and the United States hold fresh talks on the nuclear pact under a new US administration.
India tested nuclear weapons in 1974 and 1998 and, as a result, is banned from buying fuel for atomic reactors and related equipment. India’s government, which says the deal is vital to keep its energy-hungry economy growing, has agreed to open 14 of India’s 22 reactors to international inspections in return for technology and atomic plants.
But the Communists oppose the deal, saying it threatens India’s nuclear weapons programme and allies the country too closely with the United States. The deal, first agreed to by US President George W. Bush and Singh in 2005, is regarded by the governments of the two nations as a cornerstone of new, warmer Indo-US ties.
Former US presidential candidate John Kerry, who accompanied Biden along with US Senator Chuck Hagel, said New Delhi should clear the decks for the deal as soon as possible. “July is the end — it’s only an even chance even then” that the deal will be cleared by the US Congress, Kerry said. According to Biden, Singh “appeared to be still optimistic” about the bill’s clearance by India despite opposition from the left parties.—Agencies