US prods NSG nations for quick India waiver

Tokyo, Aug. 8: Facing a "tight timetable", the US on Friday pushed a reluctant Japan and other members of the NSG to agree to a waiver for India "expeditiously" for enabling the Indo-US nuclear deal, saying the accord will be a "practical way" of engaging New Delhi on non-proliferation.

"The question we’re dealing with now is what’s the best way to get more convergence between what we do within the non-proliferation treaty and what India does outside," US assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher told reporters here, adding that India has made it "very clear" that signing NPT "is not on the cards". Asked about the possibility of the deal taking effect before President George W. Bush’s term ends in January next year, he said: "It is a tight timetable. We are asking... the NSG to move expeditiously. We hope that will happen," Mr Boucher was quoted as saying by Kyodo news agency.

He dismissed concerns that the agreement may open up an opportunity for Pakistan for a similar deal. "India has a long and very solid record of non-proliferation, controlling exports, and a responsible international behaviour in that regard," he said. "So it was considered as an arrangement that worked with regard to India, not as some kind of model for other countries."

Mr Boucher especially pushed Japan, which is among the 45 NSG members, to agree to a waiver for India. "We do understand that Japan’s going to have questions and issues that they want to raise," Mr Boucher said, but "the bottomline for us is this is the way to get the cooperation we want, this is the way to get the support for non-proliferation".

Meanwhile, US state department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos on Thursday said the US is working hard to get congressional approval for its deal by the end of this year after hopefully getting NSG clearance by early September. "We’re working with the Congress to discuss the issues and resolve any outstanding concerns that it may have," he said, contending that the deal with India will be "consistent" with America’s domestic law. Responding to a senior Democrat legislator’s suggestion to suspend congressional approval of the deal until the next Congress, which convenes in January 2009, he said: "We’re working through the NSG to obtain their approval by early September". —PTI/IANS