Frank Wisner, former US ambassador to India and vice-chairman, AIG, today tried to dispel misgivings about Washington’s commitment on uninterrupted supplies of nuclear fuel to New Delhi under the India-US civil nuclear agreement saying that ''the deal was never signed with an intent to obfuscate it.’’
Addressing business leaders here at a meet organised by the Confederation of Indian industries (CII) today, Wisner assured that ''under the 123 agreement the US would try to give all the supplies and technologies to India that are permitted by the country’s laws.’’
"We would try to be a good supplier," he assured. Asking the Indians not to try pick holes in the US stand at a time when President George Bush was trying hard o get the 123 agreement ratified by the Congress at the earliest, Wisner said the non-proliferation lobby in US was genuinely concerned about "waiver to Indian becoming a precedent."
This opposition, he said should not be construed as ''anti-India sentiments’’ here. He was referring to recent concerns in India raised by Bush’s letter to the US Congress which talks about US being under no "legal obligation" to continue supplies of the nuclear fuel to India.
However, Wisner, who now dons the hat of a corporate leader, told the business community that "it is the beginning of the best time for the Indo-US business."
Politically, he said after the ratification of the 123 agreement, the next natural step could be opening the doors of the United Nations Security Council to India. "There is now a need for a determined effort to make India a permanent member of the Security Council, the G8, APEC and the OECD," he said.