World | India
Delhi hopeful of wrapping up nuclear deal
India is "hopeful" of getting the support of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and wrapping up its nuclear accord with the US by September, Science and Technology Minister Kabil Sibal said.
- IANS
- Published: 23:24 July 26, 2008
New Delhi: India is "hopeful" of getting the support of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and wrapping up its nuclear accord with the US by September, Science and Technology Minister Kabil Sibal said.
"The response is positive," Sibal said when asked about whether India was confident of getting the support of the 45-nation NSG which seeks to re-open doors of global nuclear business for India.
"Let's see what happens. We are hopeful they will support us," Sibal said, asked about his impression of sceptics in the NSG who have some reservations about the nuclear deal.
Sibal confirmed that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board was meeting on August 1 to decide on approving the India-specific safeguards pact and expressed confidence that the proposed pact will pass muster with the UN watchdog.
"The process is on. Beyond that I don't want to say anything right now," Sibal added on a cautious note.
"Hopefully, we should be able to," Sibal replied when asked whether India was confident of wrapping up the nuclear deal with the US by September as Washington indicated two days ago.
Sibal also underlined that India was hopeful of getting support of China with whom the country's relations have grown significantly over the last few years.
Meeting in August
A couple of days ago, US ambassador David Mulford had said that the US was keen to convene the meeting of the NSG in the first week of August after the approval of the India-specific safeguards agreement by the IAEA board at its meeting August 1.
The NSG process is likely to be completed in August so that the 123 agreement can be endorsed by the US Congress in September before Washington and New Delhi ink the bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement.
Sibal is among a handful of ministers and diplomats who have been deputed by the government to go to various NSG countries and allay their concerns about some aspects of the nuclear deal which they suspect will impinge negatively on global non-proliferation regime.
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