US not frustrated on civilian nuclear deal issue: Blake

Lalit K Jha
Washington, May 29 (PTI) 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. MORE PTI