Ronendra Sen, seen among India’s best ambassadors, with a reputation for forging better ties with the country he is posted to, is perhaps on his biggest assignment now — to see through the passage of the civil nuclear cooperation deal between the two countries that comes up in the Congress for debate this week.

Have you achieved everything you set out to do when you took over from Lalit Mansingh?

There were several things on the agenda. It is primarily about not just the politico-strategic aspects...but a lot of it started when Lalit Mansingh was here, for instance the NSSP (Next Steps in Strategic Partnership) was announced in January of 2004 simultaneously in Delhi and Washington. Somebody told me at that time it was going to take years for me to get it done. In fact, on the day before Phase-1 was concluded there was a report that it was not going to happen. We successfully concluded a dovetail Phase-2 and Phase-3 of the NSSP before our prime minister’s visit last year.

Are you optimistic that the nuclear Bill is going to pass in Congress?

There will be certain sentiments, which will be expressed, but when it comes to the bottomline, I am convinced that people will realise that this agreement is equally in the interest of both countries and will have a very positive effect globally.

What type of legislation do you envisage that will be passed in Congress?

I do not know what the final legislation will be. It is possible, in order to get broad bipartisan support, there could be strong sentiments reflecting traditional thinking on non-proliferation and exhortation of various kinds. What we should concentrate on are the operative aspects of the legislation, which should conform to the July 2005 and March 2006 joint statements. I would not speculate on the outcome, or comment on the internal political debate on this subject.

... contd.