'He was a visionary who redefined storytelling and inspired generations.'
Expressing grave concern over a US nuclear-powered submarine sustaining damage in the disputed South China Sea, China on Friday demanded Washington to reveal the details and the location of the accident and blamed America's frequent air and naval sorties in the Indo-Pacific to assert the "freedom of navigation" as the "root cause" of the incident.
Gokhale has said that China used its "close connections" with the Left parties in India to "build domestic opposition" to the Indo-US nuclear deal.
He hoped that relations between the two countries will not be adversely affected if the Indo-US civil nuclear deal does not go through the American Congressional processes.
US envoy Joseph Di Trani and the Department's Korean Affairs office head James Foster met with North Korean officials in New York last Friday, but with no apparent outcome.
Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar on Tuesday expressed optimism about clinching an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and implementation of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
They will also demand a review of strategic aspects of Indo-US relations in Parliament.
In general, advocates of a far-stronger relationship between India and the US have favoured the nuclear cooperation deal, the paper said.
United States President Barack Obama on Friday ordered a "comprehensive" safety review of all the nuclear power plants in the country in light of the current situation in Japan where high levels of radiation from quake-crippled reactors are threatening to spew-out disaster.
Srinagar-born Dr Vijay Sazawal, 64, of Bethesda, Maryland, who has over 35 years of professional experience in the nuclear industry covering the entire fuel cycle, has been appointed by United States Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to serve on the Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee for a period of two years.
Leader of the delegation B J Panda of the Biju Janata Dal said, "We still have the last mile left before the closure of the civilian nuclear deal."
The PM chaired the AEC meeting on Saturday.
India has offered to place 14 of the 22 thermal power reactors under IAEA safeguards in a phased manner between 2006-14, Dr Kakodkar told a media conference, adding the agreement would not affect the country's strategic programme in any respect.
"It is surprising that on such a vital issue, the government has sought to keep political parties, Parliament and the nuclear scientific community in the dark," said the CPI (M).
The lawmakers were concerned about India keeping up its conditions for the deal.
Former media advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Dr Sanjay Baru, the author of the controversial book 'The Accidental Prime Minister' that put Dr Singh in the dock over his alleged unassertiveness on policy issues, however points out that it was during the Indo-US nuclear deal discussions that the prime minister put his foot down and even staked his political future 'for the honour of commitment'. Bikash Mohapatra reports.
People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party of China, on Monday described Indo-US nuclear deal a "major blow" to non-proliferation, apparently reflecting the Chinese government's thinking on the issue.
While a clear-cut answer is not available, the 46-year-old Illonis Senator who overcame an intense electoral battle against his rival Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential nomination race had reluctantly backed the legislation on the deal worked out by the Republican administration of President George W Bush.
China has apparently decided to adopt a flexible stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal by expressing willingness to do some "creative thinking" along with the international community in the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
He, however, said that India and Pakistan are proceeding with the composite dialogue process, which has led to reduction of tensions and resulted in several Confidence Building Measures.
"In response, China may push to cut a similar deal with Pakistan, which could further destabilize South Asia," Berman said in a recent address at the institute.
China's stand on the Indo-US nuclear agreement could be crucial as there should be 'consensus' within the NSG members to amend its rules to pave the way for the implementation of the deal.
A key aide to United States President Barack Obama has dismissed reports that the new US administration has kept the nuclear deal with India on the backburner. Bruce Riedel, a former Central Intelligence Agency official who co-chaired an inter-agency committee which formulated Obama's Af-Pak policy, also did not see Robert Einhorn's recent appointment, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's special adviser on non-proliferation issues, as an impediment.
Despite the devastating terror attack on Mumbai, the US-India Business Council has decided to take its largest ever trade delegation of American commercial nuclear executives to India in January next year.
Claiming that the Nuclear Suppliers Group had 'reneged' on its waiver on nuclear fuel supply to India, Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of betraying the nation on the Indo-US nuke deal and asked him to clarify how it is beneficial to the country.
United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O Blake, the Obama administration's point man for the subcontinent, still can't get over the Bharatiya Janata Party's opposition to the US-India civilian nuclear deal, despite the fact that it initiated and championed this accord during the time it was in power.
Signalling the continuity of policy, the new government has ratified the Additional Protocol, a commitment given under Indo-US nuclear deal by the previous dispensation to grant greater ease to International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor India's civilian atomic programme.
Lauding India's track record on non-proliferation, Japan said it has been a "good boy" despite remaining outside Non Proliferation Treaty regime, but New Delhi should shoulder the responsibility to strengthen the NPT regime.
'The fact is that Democrats have obstructed the passage of this crucial agreement every step of the way,' South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson said.
Over the past six years, the largest consortium of businesses in India spent more than 1 million dollars on fact-finding trips to India for US members of Congress, their staff, and spouses and lobbying.
"The next round of talks has not been scheduled as yet. It will be done shortly. We hope to finalise the agreement at the earliest," said Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao when asked about the status of the procedural agreement under the 123 civil-nuclear pact between India and the US.
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