Rice praises India's effort in Vienna

Sridhar Krishnaswami
Washington, Sept 8 (PTI) Terming the waiver granted to
India by the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers group (N.S.G.) as a
"huge step" in the relationship between the U.S. and India,
the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has complimented the
role played by the Indian government in Vienna.

In comments made to the travelling press in Algiers on
Saturday, Rice said India showed a lot of leadership skills in
Vienna, where everybody took everyone else's concerns
seriously and found the ways to bridge it.

" I just wanted to come back and say how pleased I am to
have received the news of the conclusion of the N.S.G.
discussions, and therefore, the passing of an exemption for
India. This is an important step forward. I have to say that
India showed a lot of leadership," Rice told Reporters.

"We got lot of help from the Indian government to make
this possible, but also from a number of delegations that
worked very closely with us. And I think that it is a really
very big step forward for the non-proliferation framework" she
added according to a transcript released by the State
Department.

Rice maintained that while it would be ideal to get the
civilian nuclear deal passed during this Congress, Washington
will find ways to talk to India about not disadvantaging
Americans companies should the deal not get through the
current Congress.

".. we will have to see. The congressional calendar is
short, but the main thing is the international work is now
done. I certainly hope to get it through because it's also a
big step for the U.S.-India relationship," Rice said.

"We have talked to the Indian government about not
disadvantaging American companies and I think they recognise
and appreciate American leadership on this issue. But
obviously, the best thing would be to get it through
Congress" Rice remarked.

The top Bush administration official acknowledged that
she did make a "lot" of calls in the run up to the decision in
Vienna but would not divulge the content of the various
conversations she had.

"...I had extensive discussions of this when I was in
New Zealand, with the prime minister and the foreign minister.
I have talked at least to the Irish, the Austrians, the
Chinese. I will get you a list... but it's been a lot"
she said in response to a query.

When quizzed on how do you sort of assess India going
ahead as the Russia 123 is dying, Rice said it's altogether
very different as Russia is already a member of the NPT and
N.S.G.

"This agreement will eventually improve the prospects for
US cooperation with Russia on nuclear issues, nuclear
technology, but the Indian deal is landmark. It's no secret
India has been outside the non-proliferation regime for the
entire history of its programme. So, in that sense, it is
more significant, from the point of view of the historic
nature of the agreement," she said.

Rice was also asked to comment on the risk riding on
India if it test a nuclear weapon.

"India has a lot at stake in this agreement. And I don't
think that the Indians would have sought this agreement if
they did not see that their principal goal now is to seek
peaceful uses of nuclear materials, to be able to build civil
nuclear facilities, and to do that with the best technology
from around the world" Rice said.