Government moves to rope in Nuclear Suppliers Group to finalise deal by September

26 July 2008

Mumbai: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has held talks with leaders of major powers in the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) as the government raced against time to garner wider support and wrap up the civil nuclear deal with the US by September.

"Speed is of the essence and time is quite tight," US ambassador Robert Mulford told CNBC TV in an interview. He said the Indian government needs to move swiftly now that it has won the vote of confidence to expedite the deal.

He said there is a reasonable chance of the Indian draft being processed in the US if it arrives by early September. ''We would like to present the legislation to Congress at the end of the first week of September."

The prime minister held discussions with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, German chancellor Angela Merkel and British prime minister Gordon Brown, among others, even as science and technology minister left for Finland and Sweden to appraise those governments of the deal.

Germany is the current chairman of the 45-member NSG and support of the group is necessary for India getting a waiver to pursue civil nuclear cooperation with the international community.

India has also sought an early meeting of the NSG so that its case can be taken up and cleared. Germany's help becomes important in this respect.