India and the US may ink the landmark nuclear deal as early as Friday after President George W Bush signs into law the legislation on the initiative. The signing of the HR7081, the approval legislation for the US-India civilian nuclear agreement, into law by Bush on Wednesday will be followed by formal inking of the accord by the two countries, which will be done by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee.
David C Mulford, who will soon vacate his post as United States'ambassador to India, has urged the Obama administration to ensure the implementation of the India-US civilian nuclear agreement.In an interaction at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, Mulford said, "The nuclear deal may be completed, but the work isn't done. There is unfinished business there to be done."
'The deal on offer creates a Tarapur-style trap of gigantic dimensions. In fact, the latest Act specifically empowers the US to do what it did in 1978 -- retroactively rewrite the rules of cooperation with India by enacting a new domestic law.'
'France has been very supportive of India, particularly during the NSG negotiations,' says Ranjan Mathai, India's ambassador to France.
Rouhani's win is likely to have a huge impact on the country's relations with the West
Addressing the Congress working committee meeting in New Delhi, Gandhi said it was "imperative for us to debunk the false propaganda being spread by the BJP, the Left parties and other political opponents."
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday demanded an immediate session of Parliament to move breach of privilege motion against the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for "misleading" the two Houses on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Manufacturers view the agreement - when it is signed - as a defence against the slowdown in the car market.
'As long as the prime minister's assurances are embodied in the 123 Agreement, we do not need to quarrel with an internal document of the United States.'
Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy, Congress leader Manish Tewari has said his 14 months of diplomacy, including meetings with US President Barack Obama, has yielded "zero" results for India.
Put the poor who have voted for this government at the centre of reforms, says Sunita Narain.
Outgoing US President George W Bush has said that under his presidency America opened a "new historic and strategic partnership" with India, listing it among the highlights of his term's foreign policy.
"There is no vacancy for the post of the prime minister. No applications are being invited or are necessary or are being entertained," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.
Following is the reaction of parties on the India-specific safeguards agreement being approved by the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
India has received a positive response from the Non-Aligned Movement countries, which are members of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group on the Indo-US nuclear deal after it briefed them on the safeguards agreement, which the global nuclear watchdog will consider on Friday.
The telephonic conversation between Dr Singh and Medvedev was 'in development of constructive (ties), aimed at practical results talks held on the margins of the recent G-8 summit in Toyako (Japan) and they discussed a wide range of issues, including the preparations for the upcoming Delhi visit of the Russian President', according to the Kremlin.
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.
With the government emerging victorious in the confidence motion, the country would be signing the civilian nuclear deal with the US which has the potential to significantly boost India's nuclear energy production, says a report by Moody's economy.com.
Making a strong defence of the nuclear deal during the debate on confidence motion, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee rejected the Left parties' allegations of betrayal and took potshots at leader of opposition Lal Kishenchand Advani, saying he should not "distort" facts in "over enthusiasm" to score political points.
'The Trinamool Congress cannot afford to vote with the BJP or the CPI-M,' she said. 'Neither can we support the Congress.'
Lobbying for the Indo-US nuclear deal, India on Friday briefed the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors and some Nuclear Suppliers Group countries on the safeguards agreement amid reports that there was no sign of opposition to the accord.
Allaying fears on the nuclear deal, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said there was no question of compromise on the national security and independent foreign policy.
The safeguards pact, which is the next step in the operationalisation of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, was sent to the 35-nation Board on a day when the Left parties formally withdrew support from the United Progressive Alliance government, following a bitter feud over the deal which has remained stalled for several months.
Emerging from the Rashtrapati Bhavan after submitting the letter withdrawing support from the government, CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat told media persons that the draft of the IAEA safeguards agreement must be made public. Claiming that the Manmohan Singh government had not been transparent on the nuclear deal, Karat said the deal will not be acceptable to the Left parties till all the issues raised by them were clarified.
The United States wants India to wait for a final nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers before actively engaging with Tehran.
As their "political marriage" is all set to end, the Left parties are out to target the ruling UPA for which they are preparing a "chargesheet" against the government detailing its "unkept promises" and "obsession" with the nuclear deal.
Lobbying on the Hill is time consuming and cumbersome, but very effective to influence US government policies, asserts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, deputy chief of mission at the Indian embassy in Washington, DC after the 1998 nuclear tests and during the Kargil War.
Delivering a public lecture on 'Evolving Indian nuclear programme: Rationale and perspectives' organised by Indian Academy of Sciences in Bangalore on Friday, he said the currently-known uranium resources in the country were enough for setting up nearly 10,000 MWe installed capacity pressurised heavy water reactors and the country will need to import nuclear reactors and the fuel to achieve energy security.
Former foreign secretary Shyam Saran says he is "optimistic" of the nuclear deal being cleared at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting. Saran -- the prime minister's special envoy on climate change and the India-US nuclear civilian agreement -- also confirmed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the G-8 summit in Tokyo later this week.
Their parleys, which staved off a breakdown between the Left and the ruling coalition for the time being, followed a series of meetings between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, United Progressive Alliance chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and top leaders of the party till late Thursday night.
The government on Wednesday ruled out giving to the Left the draft of the India-specific Internatonal Atomic Energy Agency safeguards agreement in connection with the Indo-US nuclear deal, but asserted that all their queries on this subject have been "answered." "It is not possible to give them (Left) the (safeguards) text. We have anwsered all their queries," Union Science Minister Kapil Sibal told TV channels.
India has received the first consignment of 60 tonnes of uranium from France for use as fuel to power its nuclear reactors following clearance by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group
Conveying that there will be no let up in India's drive to modernise its energy and defence sectors, prime minister's special envoy Shyam Saran said on Tuesday this should encourage Washington to look at New Delhi as a source of demand for its goods and services.
Ridiculing the Left for opposing the Indo-US nuclear deal, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said the parties were suffering from 'Americaphobia just like some people have hydrophobia.' "They have Americaphobia, just like some people have hydrophobia. They may have it, but they must understand that the the US is technologically advanced and we need that advanced technology," Mukherjee told a seminar in Kolkata on the N-deal.
Both houses of Parliament were adjourned till noon within minutes of assembling on Tuesday following uproarious scenes over the issues of plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka, Indo-US civilian nuclear deal and attacks on north Indians in Maharashtra.
A coalition of community organisations in the Washington, DC metropolitan area accorded a rousing farewell to the deputy chief of mission at the Indian embassy, Ambassador Raminder Singh Jassal, who will now take charge as India's new ambassador to Turkey.
Retired Commodore Uday Bhaskar, leading strategic analyst, has predicted that the Indo-US relationship 10 years into the future will still remain on track even if the bilateral civilian nuclear deal is not consummated because it is now driven largely by non-government actors.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday briefed his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the Indo-US nuclear deal and raised the issues of delay in the delivery of Gorshkov aircraft carrier.
The DMK, the NCP, the LJP and the RJD would like the Congress to give something in return if they "sacrifice" their demands. The Congress -- and the Indian electorate at large -- is expected to politely ignore the fact that the demands are a load of unrealistic bunk that never had a prayer of being realised
Assistant US Secretary of State Robert Blake said that both the sides hoped to sign the end-use monitoring agreement in defence field under which the US would be able to supply sensitive technology to India.
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