Mulford meets Menon
US Ambassador David Mulford
The sources said that the US Ambassador David Mulford on Monday met Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, apparently to know the progress on specification of the civilian nuclear deal. The sources said that the Ambassador David Mulford was with Menon for about an hour during which the two are understood to have reviewed the progress on operationalisation of the deal.
The meeting came ahead of the next round of talks between India & IAEA expected later this week. India & IAEA have held four rounds of discussions so far but failed to firm up the agreement, generally because of persisting differences over India’s right to build strategic fuel reserve & corrective measures that will be required if the fuel supply is stopped because of any circumstance.
India also wants acceptance of its separation plan by the IAEA. Significantly, Mulford met Menon in the backdrop of his insistence that it was now or never for India to get such a deal, a comment which induced sharp reactions from Left parties. The US has been pressing for implementation of the nuclear deal during the tenure of Bush administration, failing which non-proliferation lobbies would force additional conditionalities into the agreement.
The Left parties on Sunday attacked Mulford for “applying pressure” on India, saying it amounted to “intimidation”.
More News
- Mulford meets Menon February 12, 2008
- Landmark US-India nuke deal approved October 2, 2008
- Cong highlights China’s readiness for N-coop with India January 31, 2008
- Pranab Mukherjee will meet George Bush on Monday March 22, 2008
- Bush signs Indo-US Nuclear Deal into Law October 9, 2008
- Fuel price hike protests: 200 arrested in Chennai June 7, 2008
- Tank up! Petrol, diesel prices to shoot up next week February 1, 2008
- SAD: PM never consulted Sikhs on N-Deal July 13, 2008
- Rice, Pranab Mukherjee meet to discuss Myanmar, N-deal May 10, 2008
- Ambassador Ronen Sen will meet Indian shipyard workers March 21, 2008
