May deadline for n-deal: Boucher

NEW DELHI, MARCH 5 : Urging India to move ahead on the nuclear deal, US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher on Wednesday sought to clear the air on the applicability of the Hyde Act, saying there was “no contradiction” and that it was a domestic legislation applicable to the Government in Washington. It is further learnt that the US has clarified that it would be willing to sign the 123 agreement with whatever Government is in India — minority or caretaker.

Boucher, however, reminded India of a stiff deadline of May. “The time is short... The time is tight, very tight and there is a lot of work to be done,” he said.

“As far as the Hyde Act is concerned, it is a domestic legislation that determines what we do in our Government. It’s an enabling legislation whose main purpose is to allow us to conclude the nuclear agreement with India,” Boucher, who is in charge of Central and South Asia, told mediapersons.

“As for the 123 agreement, that’s what binds India and the US in the framework. I frankly see no contradiction between the two,” Boucher said.

When asked about the opposition to the nuclear deal by Left allies, he said, “We understand the political realities in India and there is a need to understand the political realities of the US as well.”

“We deal with the Government that is in place. It is for the governments to handle their own politics domestically,” he said, adding that it was for the UPA Government to take care of political considerations within the country.

Talking about the deadline, Boucher said, “Realistically, the authoritarian voice in this regard is that of Senator Joseph Biden (chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee). The idea is to get the deal through the US Congress by July,” he said. Biden and former Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry during their visit last month had stressed that India must conclude the next steps —IAEA pact and a change in guidelines by the NSG — by May so that it could be ratified by the Congress before July-end.

“We need to allow a month or two in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which operates by consensus,” he said when asked how much time it will take for the NSG to decide on allowing global resumption of civil nuclear commerce with India.

“There are going to be a lot of questions in the NSG. But we believe India should be...

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