With most United Progressive Alliance constituents disfavouring early polls, Congress on Friday said it wants to take the Left allies along while pushing the Indo-US nuclear deal and that there would be "no loss of face" if the agreement fails.
The Left, as also several other parties, have been expressing apprehensions over various aspects of the deal and have been demanding that the sense of Parliament be taken into consideration and had contended that the government had no majority on the issue.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday night said the government was confident of addressing the Left concerns on issues of national interest, including the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
Officials hint the visit could finally see a formal defence industrial road map being adopted by both nations.
Reports (not denied by India) that the USA had 'for the first time provided real-time details to their Indian counterparts on the Chinese positions and force strength in advance of a PLA incursion' into Tawang at the LAC in December 2022, helping India thwart China's expansionist designs, show how operationally effective the USA-India friendship has become on the ground. A engaging excerpt from Sreeram Chaulia's must-read new book, Friends: India's Closest Strategic Partners.
The 10-member ASEAN described the Indo-US nuclear deal as an extremely positive step, hoping that the two countries would be able to conclude the pact soon.
The supporting parties bluntly rejected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's suggestion that India should not miss the bus of nuclear renaissance as they insisted that "the destination of the bus will be the stranglehold of the United States."
With their landmark 2005 civil nuclear deal still in limbo, India and the United States have established an inter-agency contact group to sort out outstanding liability and technical issues to fast-track its full implementation.
Areva, the French nuclear group, agreed on Wednesday to supply India with up to six nuclear reactors in one of the first deals since the subcontinent's nuclear programme was brought into the international fold last year after decades of isolation.
Maintaining its strident opposition to the historic Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, the Chinese state media has accused Washington of contradicting its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The much-debated Nuclear Liability Bill, crucial for operationalising the India-US civil nuclear deal, would be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on March 15, Minister of State for Atomic Energy Prithviraj Chavan has said.
The special cell of the Delhi police, which had earlier arrested the accused Mukesh Saini along with system analyast Shib Shankar Paul, alleged the latter had developed "intimate" and "close relationship" with the American diplomat Rosana Minschew to whom the secrets were passed on.
For future growth, India also required to enhance its growth in accelerator development and on hydrogen economy and all these need development of science of cryogenics, he said.
US committed to implementing Indo-US nuclear deal: Burns
Rejecting some critics' argument as to what message the US was sending to Iran by signing a nuclear energy deal with India, Burns said, "We don't see the connection between what Iran is doing and what India seeks to do."
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.
The sources said evolving public opinion in favour of the agreement would not be difficult in France, unlike that of the US.
United States President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to make meaningful advancements on the GE jet engine deal and civil nuclear technology during their bilateral talks, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was cited in a Reuters report.
Dr Kakodkar made light of the suggestion that the NSG would meet only in April 2007, which could possibly impact the deal.
'The nation, at this critical juncture, depends on its representatives in Parliament to ensure that decisions taken today do not inhibit our future ability to develop and pursue nuclear technologies for the benefit of the nation'
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.
The tough terms and conditions for the civilian nuclear engagement with India as laid out in the Henry Hyde Act passed by US Congress in December 2006 and intent of the July 18, 2005 statement are at complete divergence with each other and so it is
Ahead of his visit, Burns said, "My trip to New Delhi is to focus on agreement on a timetable that will lead to decisions in the US Congress to change our law and ultimate decision of the Indian Government to meet their commitments."
CPM general-secretary Prakash Karat had said that the government would have to face serious consequences if it went ahead with the nuclear deal.
Administration sources said they are confident that the Bill will be cleared on Thursday.
The Indian position on the Russia-Ukraine war and the unconditional treaty between China and Russia appear to have caused some ripples in India-US relations and led to a reappraisal of India's usefulness to the US in the eventuality of a conflict with China, notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The Indo-US civilian nuclear deal and the go-ahead for atomic commerce obtained by India from the NSG will help address world's shared interests in energy security and climate change, Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday.
Ahead of official-level consultations in Washington on the Indo-American nuclear deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said it was for the United States to decide on taking the agreement forward.
Uncertainty over the Indo-US nuclear deal cast a shadow over the first Indo-French nuclear business meet in Mumbai, which was aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation in the atomic field.
The PMO issued a press release virtually repeating its earlier assurances that the deal did not undermine India's nuclear sovereignty or did any harm to the country's interest. At a press conference later, Singh said the prime minister should come out with a public statement either in Parliament or outside assuaging their concerns as they were not in a position to support the deal as of now.
'Nothing in the deal required the US Congress to pass legislation in a single step,' says Dr Michael A Levi, nuclear expert.
"India is supposed to get only uranium for its nuclear programme to expand. Simply for this, so much compromising... is uncalled for," he said.
Pak approaches NSG for a nuclear deal similar to the US-India one
The Congress will take on the government in Parliament on the Indo-US nuclear deal
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