The US has said it is not frustrated on the delay in the implementation of the civilian nuclear deal with India in terms of the passage of the nuclear liability bill in that country as it understands that such things move at its own pace in a democracy.
"We are not frustrated. We trust Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh's judgment on this (nuclear liability bill).
Our main interest is in making sure that the legislation that is passed is compliant with the Convention on Supplementary Compensation, which is the international standard for such legislation," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said.
Blake asserted he does not think that the passage of the civilian nuclear deal is taking long.
"India is a democracy and, like our own democracy, they have to work a bill through -- first through their own cabinet system and then they have get a consensus within their own parliamentary system on this very, very important bill," he said.
"It has some political resonance in India because of the Bhopal disaster. So people obviously look at this very closely and they should. It deserves that kind of scrutiny," Blake said, coming out in strong defence of the political process in India related to the bill.
"I think the Prime Minister addressed this very forthrightly himself in his recent press conference in which he said that the passage of this legislation is a priority for the Indian Government.
And it's a priority because it's going to help the United States and other countries to deliver nuclear technology that will help meet the needs, the energy needs, of India's fast-growing economy," he said.
"It will also help us because we'll be able to substantially increase our exports, but also provide much needed new jobs in the United States," he said, adding that he sees this as a win-win for both the countries.
"We are now following very closely the nuclear liability legislation that the Indian Government has introduced into the Indian parliament.
We hope that will be consistent with the Convention on Supplementary Compensation. And if so, and if passed, it would provide a very important legal protection and open the way for billions of dollars in American reactor exports and thousands of jobs," he said at a news conference here.
Blake also highlighted the unprecedented counter-terrorism cooperation that is taking place between the two countries.
"This is a relatively recent phenomenon. We've raised counter-terrorism cooperation by focusing on law enforcement cooperation and intelligence sharing between our two governments because of the increasingly common threats that we face, particularly those in India faced by Lashkar-e-Taiba and other groups.
I think we've had very close cooperation, and we look forward to doing even more in that area," he said.
