India nuclear pact a big deal for US

WASHINGTON: The nuclear agreement with India is a big deal in the United States' foreign policy towards South Asia and the Bush administration is hopeful that the US Senate will clear it this month despite its tight schedule, says a senior US official.

“The US is also quite hopeful that the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) will agree to make an exception in the case of India,” said Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher in a talk on Thursday, describing the support extended by Brazil and South Africa, both NSG members, as a positive sign.

“To this end, Washington had been pretty active explaining the virtues of the India-US nuclear deal and how it was equally safe for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty (NPT),” he said in the talk at The Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. India too was making efforts to bring around what it once considered perpetrators of nuclear apartheid.

“South Asia held a critical place in US foreign policy with bringing economic prosperity to the region as one of its four key elements, and the India-US nuclear agreement is a big deal in that matrix,” said Boucher, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs.

The other key elements of Washington's policy for the region are to fight terrorism, to ensure success of moderate, democratic society and enhance regional cooperation.

Boucher said that India had of late suffered a series of terrorist attacks from Mumbai to Malegaon and the US was trying hard to stop this infliction on India.

“A major effort was on in Pakistan to fight terrorism with a lot of success in efforts to curb Al Qaeda. Islamabad had also now turned its attention on Taliban with President Pervez Musharraf showing real determination,” he added.

Pakistan's recent peace deal with tribal leaders in North Waziristan, he hoped, would have a positive impact on its efforts to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Musharraf, in Boucher's view, was also crucial to building a moderate, democratic and Muslim society in Pakistan.

“India and Pakistan had shown statesmanship in improving their relations over the last couple of years, but the July 11 Mumbai blasts had led to a kind of hiatus in these efforts,” Boucher said, hoping they would find a way to resume negotiations, particularly on a tough issue like Kashmir.