New Delhi: India will make a strong pitch
for securing a full membership of the elite Nuclear Suppliers
Group (NSG) during the visit of Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao
to the US, which has already pledged its support for New
Delhi.
Rao, who is leaving tonight, intends to discuss with the
US how to take forward the process of securing the full
membership of NSG, officials said here.
During his visit to India last November, US President
Barack Obama had committed support for India's full membership
in NSG and other multilateral export control regimes. The US
move finally opened a door for the country to transcend the
legal confines of a treaty that has defined global attitudes
towards nuclear weapons for over four decades -- the NPT.
India has termed the US step to remove ISRO and DRDO from
the entities list last month as "important" with the officials
maintaining that Washington was looking at removing hurdles in
high-tech trade with the country as per its commitment.
Continuing its cooperation in the field, US Commerce
Secretary Gary Locke recently visited the country and was
accompanied by delegates from 24 companies, promoting
technologies and services related to civil nuclear energy,
civil aviation, defence, homeland security and communications.
"We have made important progress this week, not just to
lay the groundwork for more sales of US goods in India, but to
take another real step towards strengthening the bonds between
the governments, the businesses and the people of India and
the US," Locke had said yesterday in Mumbai.
Locke, who was here on a high-technology trade mission,
announced during President Obama's trip, visited three cities
-- New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
During her stay, the Foreign Secretary will also speak
tomorrow at the New School in New York on India-China.
PTI
First Published: Friday, February 11, 2011, 20:19