The chief US negotiator of a nuclear agreement with India said it would be impossible to complete this year unless India quickly makes a "courageous decision" to endorse it.
US President George W. Bush, who leaves office next January, considers the pact a major accomplishment of his administration.
US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said on Thursday that a dispute within the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's governing coalition was jeopardizing an agreement that benefits both nations.
"I'm afraid it's time for the government to decide. We hope the decision will be positive," said Burns, who is retiring from the US State Department next week. "If India is to be given this great victory, which is so clearly in the Indian national interest, there has to be a courageous decision made by the government."
India has been shunned by global nuclear powers since it conducted its first underground nuclear test in 1976. It has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, another reason that has kept the country out of the global civilian nuclear network.
Burns headed the US negotiating team that agreed after two-and-a-half years on the final US-Indian document that would give India access to US civilian nuclear technology and fuel.
In exchange India would provide safeguards and allow international inspections at its 14 civilian nuclear installations. Eight self-designated military plants would remain off-limits.
Congress has given its preliminary approval.
India's vote has been barred by a communist party within Singh's coalition that fears the pact would give Washington an ability to meddle with Indian policies.
"I think the Indian government is quite sincere in wanting to push this agreement forward," Burns said.
He said, however, that "there's obviously a question of politics within the Indian coalition, and we don't want to interfere in internal affairs of the coalition in India."
Nevertheless, he said recent US visitors to India, including Democratic Senator Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates had told their hosts that "time is very short."
Even with India's endorsement, the two countries still must obtain an exception for India from the rules of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, countries that export nuclear material. Indian officials also must negotiate a safeguard agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
RSS