US to expand ties with India, deal or no deal

WASHINGTON: The US says with India emerging as an increasingly important player on the world stage, it's going to continue to expand its relations with New Delhi regardless of the outcome of their nuclear deal.

Washington would very much like to see the India-US nuclear deal move forward and finalised, but it does understand that the Indian Government needs to work though its own political process. But it was "ready and able to move forward whenever they would like us to," the State Department said Wednesday.

"...and we fully expect that, regardless of the outcome or the timing of this agreement, that we are going to continue to expand our relations with India, because it is an increasingly important player on the world's stage," he said.

"It's a country with which we have much in common and for too long, weren't working with in the way we are now," Casey noted.  "So we want to make sure that not only we see this nuclear agreement move forward, but that more importantly our broader relations with India continue to develop and grow."

"We certainly want to see this agreement move forward.  We hope it will," he said. "But ultimately, in terms of the decisions within the Indian political system, we respect the needs and the rights of their political leaders to work this through themselves."

"But we're ready and able to move forward whenever they would like us to," Casey said adding he was not aware of any recent contacts between the Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and senior Indian officials on the nuclear deal.

The US "would very much like to see this agreement move forward and be finalised," the spokesman said as "We continue to believe it's something that's in the best interests of the United States, of India, and of the broader international community in efforts to inhibit the proliferation of nuclear technology and nuclear weapons."

"So we certainly hope that it does move forward and does go through, Casey said noting that Washington's point man on the deal, Under Secretary for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns, had made this point before too.

Burns on his part said at a media roundtable in Singapore Monday that he did not foresee the Implementing 123 agreement "being re-opened, by either side."

"That Agreement is finished, it's done, it's completed, it just stands to be approved finally by both governments," he said according to the transcript of the interaction posted on the State Department website.

"I think with goodwill and hard work, it will be. But I do not foresee it being re-opened, by either side. Not by the United States, and I don't think by India either," he added.

"We are confident that this deal should go forward; of course, we now need to wait for the Indian government to make a final decision on putting the safeguards agreement forward," Burns said outlining the steps to follow.

"And then of course, the step after that will be the Nuclear Suppliers Group, to convince the 45 members to act by consensus to support international change, to treat India in a more fair and effective manner.

"Then there will be a final vote in the US Congress, we hope at the very beginning of 2008. And then this deal will be finished," Burns said.