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Our Bureau

`Bill reflects very broad bipartisan support the initiative enjoys'

New Delhi , Nov. 17

India has cautiously welcomed the passage of the Bill on Indo-US civil nuclear co-operation in the US Senate, saying that there is a need to await the final version before drawing any conclusion on the legislation.

In a statement issued here, the Minister for External Affairs, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, said the passage of the Bill reflected the "very broad bipartisan" support that the initiative enjoys.

"We now expect that the final version of the legislation, which would emerge after the joint conference of the House and Senate, should adhere as closely as possible to the understandings incorporated in the July 18, 2005 Indo-US Joint Statement and the March 2006 Separation Plan, so that full civil nuclear co-operation between India and the US becomes a reality and contributes to India's energy security," Mr Mukherjee added.

Joint conference likely

Indications are that the joint conference is likely to be convened after the passage of the Bill, and the final version is likely to be taken up for a vote by both the Houses after December 4.

Meanwhile, the US Ambassador to India, Mr David Mulford, has said that the US is aware of some areas of uncertainty and sensitivity that still remains and needs to be addressed.

Hesaid that there were very few problems remaining and added that the Bush Administration would work with the Congress to remove them.

Mr Mulford is of the view that the agreement is a test case for realisation of the larger vision of the broad-based long-term relations between the two countries.

Asked about the efforts being made to bring about a consensus among the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for civil nuclear agreement, he said that both India and the US had been conducting dialogue with NSG members and he was confident about a positive outcome.

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