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Washington: As the Indian coalition government and its leftist supporters held another inconclusive round on the stalled India-US civil nuclear deal, Washington said it was for New Delhi to resolve an issue of domestic politics.
"In terms of India, the issue is with Indian politics and the Indian government working on their end to try to resolve any issues they may have," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters on Tuesday when asked if the deal was "just dead or is moving forward".
The official was not sure how actively was Nicholas Burns, Washington's former key interlocutor for the deal involved in the process. Burns had agreed to continue to work on the India file even after he quit his job as under secretary of state for political affairs in February.
"I'm not sure how active Nick is involved in that process as it's really a matter for Indian domestic politics," McCormack said referring to the leftist opposition that has prevented New Delhi from signing the implementing bilateral 123 agreement finalised last July.
The deal has to cross two more hurdles before it goes to the US Congress for final approval. First, New Delhi has to sign an India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and then ask the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to change its guidelines for nuclear commerce.
India and the IAEA have finalised a draft agreement, but the United Progressive Alliance government has decided not to sign it without the approval of the Left parties. New Delhi had earlier entered into talks with IAEA only after getting a nod from the Left.
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