U.S.-India Nuke Deal Lauded, But Unsigned

Rice Says No Substantive Issues Stand In Way Of Formalizing Agreement To Sell Nuclear Material

(AP)  The top American and Indian diplomats on Saturday lauded a new agreement that opens up U.S. nuclear trade with India, but they stopped short of signing the deal, which some private U.S. arms control experts say is likely to speed up nuclear arms competition in Asia.

Some U.S. officials had said as recently as Friday that they expected Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Indian counterpart, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, to sign the agreement Saturday. The Senate on Wednesday approved legislation authorizing President Bush to make the deal.

At a joint news conference with Mukherjee, Rice said no substantive issues stand in the way of signing the deal; she said it was only a matter of waiting for a series of administrative steps by the Congress to transmit enabling legislation to the White House for Bush to sign.

"We don't have open issues" with the Indians, Rice said.

Mukherjee said his government was satisfied with the progress and was awaiting final action in Washington.

"Once this process is complete we'll be in a position to sign," Mukherjee said.

Rice was meeting later with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Speaking to reporters aboard her plane en route from Washington, Rice said she expects the civil nuclear cooperation agreement will trigger an across-the-board expansion of American-Indian relations.

Rice said only administrative - not substantive - matters were delaying the signing of the agreement.

Once President Bush signs the authorizing legislation, he is required to certify that the agreement with India is consistent with U.S. obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, designed to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. He must also certify that it is U.S. policy to cooperate with international efforts to further restrict transfers of technology related to uranium enrichment and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.

The U.S. agreement on civil nuclear cooperation allows American businesses to begin selling nuclear fuel, technology and reactors to India in exchange for safeguards and U.N. inspections at India's civilian - but not military - nuclear plants.

Critics in India argue the constraints compromise their country's right to conduct nuclear bomb tests.

(Protestors shout slogans against Secretary Rice during a demonstration against the India-U.S. nuclear deal in Mumbai, Oct. 4, 2008.)

Even without a signing ceremony during her visit, Rice said, "I'm going to draw a line under this" deal "one way or another because it's time to put the historic agreement - to say that that's done and move on to what else we can do" to strengthen and broaden the relationship.

The Bush administration considers the deal a crowning achievement of the president's second term in office.

It could, however, turn out to be the last major diplomatic achievement of a presidency that is struggling in its final months on a number of other fronts, including a setback in relations with Russia after its invasion of Georgia and the prospect of a breakdown in a nuclear agreement with North Korea.

Rice said she spoke Friday morning with the administration's chief nuclear envoy to North Korea, Christopher Hill, who was in Pyongyang to try to persuade the North Koreans to resume dismantling their nuclear problem in exchange for energy aid. She said she and Hill did not discuss what progress he may have made; they intend to meet Monday in Washington.

In the onboard interview, Rice stressed that she saw the importance of her visit to New Delhi as focusing on the future, rather than celebrating the completion of the civil nuclear agreement.

"This is a relationship that has now a firm foundation to reach its full potential," she said. "It removes for India a barrier to full integration on a whole range of technologies," and it opens the way for closer U.S.-India cooperation in other areas such as defense, agriculture and education.

India built its nuclear bombs outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which it refuses to sign. It has faced a nuclear trade ban since its first atomic test in 1974; its most recent nuclear test blast was in 1998.

Throughout the Cold War, relations between India and the United States were chilly. In the past decade, however, ties have grown closer in a range of areas, including trade, energy and security. The United States is now India's largest trading partner.

U.S. opponents of the nuclear agreement say lawmakers rushed consideration of a complicated deal that could spark a nuclear arms race in Asia. The extra fuel the measure allows India to purchase, those critics say, could boost India's nuclear bomb stockpile by freeing up its domestic fuel for weapons.