India on Friday said it was confident of the passage of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal as it enjoyed bipartisan support among lawmakers, assuring that American firms would not be put at a disadvantage even if there is delay in getting a Congressional nod for the accord.
India on Friday expressed confidence that its nuclear deal with the United States would win US Congress approval following the Bush administration's pledge to support a bi-partisan legislation on the pact.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma late Wednesday night on the sidelines of ASEAN ministerial meet in Singapore. The leaders had a 'very good' meeting during which Rice appreciated India's 'resolve to go ahead with the historic nuclear deal', highly-placed sources told PTI.
To a question on continuing support to the government, Karat said he has just talked to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and it depends on what they decide.
The night before Dr Singh was to meet President Bush, he said he could not sign the agreement.
Former NSA Shivshankar Menon said the defence minister did not have a right to voice his personal opinion on nuclear policy in public, particularly when that opinion contradicted the country's official policy.
Eminent economist Lord Meghnad Desai on Wednesday came out strongly against moves to stall the India-United States nuclear agreement and claimed that if the deal did not go through, it would be a severe blow to India's international standing.Terming the pressure tactics by the Left as disgraceful, Lord Desai said that it was tragic that the United Progressive Alliance government was losing its nerve (on the nuclear deal).
The SP leader said he endorsed the stand taken by his party's parliamentary group leader Ram Gopal Yadav that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was an honourable person, but the deal he is pursuing with the United States was not an honourable one.
the Opposition on Thursday demanded a passage of a resolution in the Rajya Sabha to reflect the sense of Parliament that country's nuclear and strategic autonomy is not compromised.
A frustrated and angry America Inc believes it has been let down by Delhi after all of its lobbying to push through the deal in the US Congress, reports Aziz Haniffa in Washington, DC.
Singh accepted Bush's invitation to visit the US again and said a mutually convenient date would be worked out.
'Decisions on nuclear power have so far been taken by a small select group, primarily interested in profiteering from their actions, stating 'secrecy' as necessary from the national security point.' 'This argument is false, because we are dealing with the 'civilian' nuclear power sector, which is open even to the IAEA,' says Dr A Gopalakrishnan, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.
The Post report noted that US officials are saying that 'India has made unrealistic demands, such as retaining the right to test nuclear weapons.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his government to tender an apology to the nation and explain why it mislead the country on the nuclear deal.
He maintained that India cannot undertake any obligations going beyond the July 18 Joint Statement and the Separation Plan.
'When human beings develop these dangerous toys and leave their control in the hands of aggressive megalomaniac politicians, the threat of a nuclear holocaust is always lurking on the horizon.'
L K Advani on Thursday said he would have no objection to the signing of the much debated nuclear deal with the United States if it was renegotiated to allow the option of further nuclear testing.
The influential Indian-American community has swung back to action to push the N-deal ahead.
US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns will resign, a senior US official said on Friday.
An authoritative and well-connected strategic affairs journal in China has come out with a prompt independent comment on the progress in the N-deal.
Emphasising that the India-US nuclear agreement is in the interest of both the countries, Richard Boucher, the top official in charge of South and Central Asia, hoped that the deal will continue towards implementation.
"The protest by the Left is a reflection of their ideology. It is inappropriate," Nath said in Chhindwara, his Lok Sabha constituency.
The nuclear-deal-in-the-making with the US has forced the government into a firefighting mode not only domestically, but also internationally, where it is working overtime to avoid straining relations with the key long-time ally -- Russia.
India and the United Kingdom have agreed on the text of a landmark civil nuclear agreement and a formal pact may be signed within a week, Britain's Business Secretary Lord Peter Mandelson announced on Thursday. "The civil nuclear deal text has been agreed to and it will be signed soon, may be within a week after ministerial approvals," Lord Mandelson told a joint press conference with Commerce Minister Anand Sharma.
"Stronger economic, scientific, diplomatic, and military cooperation between the US and India is in the national interest of both countries and reflects our increasingly close relationship with this important democratic ally," Ranking member on the House of Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, said.
Rhodes remarks on India came in response to a question about why some countries like China are opposing India's membership in the 48-member NSG.
In the wake of the movement in recent days with speculation rife that Prime Minister Singh is willing to go ahead with the deal even if the Left allies in the coalition withdraw their support, the Bush administration -- which some perceived was a totally unrealistic statement, but which sources said was consequent to indications from New Delhi that there would be movement on the deal from its current moribund status -- vowed to work to complete the deal.
President Musharraf was speaking to The New York Times.
Scotching speculation about early polls, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has made it clear that the survival of the government was more important than the Indo-US nuclear deal and the Left parties will have to be taken on board. He ruled out the possibility of a minority government signing the nuclear agreement, saying the US was not ready for it.
Stressing that there is nothing secretive about the Indo-US nuclear deal, a senior Congress leader said the prime minister is ready to face Parliament before the deal is operationalised.
Asked if there was a 90 per cent chance of hope of an agreement, Singh replied, "I certainly hope that," adding that an agreement would be a "great contribution" of Bush "to ending India's isolation from the world nuclear order."
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.
President George W Bush said he is "pleased" with outgoing Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns for agreeing to continue to handle the "historic" Indo-US civil nuclear deal in which Washington has been making "progress" under him.
Under the deal, to be ratified by the US Congress, Washington will lift sanctions on dual-use technology trade with India for which New Delhi will have to separate its civilian and military nuclear establishments.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances