New Delhi: The US Undersecretary of State, Nicholas Burns, on Thursday expressed optimism about the positive outcome of a crucial round of talks between Indian and US officials on the 1-2-3 Nuclear Agreement as he arrived for talks in South Block.
"We are nearly there although, as ambassador (David) Mulford said the other day, some hard work has to be done. And this agreement is very much in the interest of both the governments," Burns said.
He said the Indo-US nuclear deal represents the most ambitious proposal US has put forward in 30 years. "It allows us to correct major problems in our relations. It leverages Indo-US relations, it leverages our nuclear relations," Burns told waiting journalists as he headed to join the talks.
There is an urgency to these talks ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's scheduled meeting US President George W Bush at the G8 in the first week of June. A nuclear deal at this point of time would also be politically significant for the Manmohan Singh Government even though major obstacles remain.
The key obstacles to the deal, however, remain. Firstly, India is objecting to a clause which says that if New Delhi conducted a nuclear test then the US would take back all the nuclear fuel and plants they had set up.
The other is the right to reprocess spent fuel. Indian officials say that they cannot afford to have huge stockpiles of fuel just lying around and need a firm commitment from Washington.
India is clear that it cannot go back from the assurances made by the Prime Minister in Parliament.
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