Move to remove nuke deal roadblocks gathers pace

Efforts to overcome the roadblocks on the path of the Indo-US Civil nuclear agreement have gathered new momentum with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speeking to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee this evening.

The telephone-conversation, according to sources in the External Affairs Ministry, was primarily on the current status of the nuclear deal. Other matters related to bilateral and international issues were also discussed.

Before Rice spoke to Mukherjee, US ambassador to India David C Mulford met BJP president Rajnath Singh at the latter's residence this afternoon.

The US ambassador tried to convince the BJP, a major opponent of the deal, of the importance of the deal for bilateral relations between the two countries.

According to the BJP, after giving a broad overview on the bilateral relations, Mulford mentioned that the rapid improvement of relations started only when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister and the BJP-led NDA was in power.

The US ambassador also said that the nuclear dal had become the core issue and will have an impact on the future course of bilateral relationship between India and US.

Mulford also highlighted some legal and technical aspects of the deal.

According to US, if India tests another nuclear device, sanctions will be automatically imposed and India will face global pressures.

This will happen even if there is no deal. So, the Indo-US nuclear deal doesn't tighten further India's sovereign decision to conduct nuclear tests.

Rajnath replied, that the UPA Government never informed the oppostion about these aspects. He conveyed that his party's main concerns are related to curb on nuclear tests and strategic weapon programme. However, Rajnath didn't forget to add that they don't have any problem with US but with the deal.