In full support of clean NSG exception for India: US

Washington, Jun 24 (PTI) The Obama Administration has
said it fully supports the "clean" Nulcear Suppliers Group
exception for India and speedy implementation of the Civil
Nuclear Cooperation Agreement between the two countries.
"Nothing about the new Enrichment and Reprocessing
(ENR) transfer restrictions agreed to by NSG members should be
construed as detracting from the unique impact and importance
of the US-India agreement or our commitment to full civil
nuclear cooperation," State Department spokeswoman Victoria
Nuland said in a statement.
Nuland said efforts in the NSG to strengthen controls
on the transfers of ENR are consistent with long-standing US
policy that pre-dates the Civil Nuclear Agreement and have
been reaffirmed on an annual basis by the G-8 for years.
This new guideline reflects a consensus among all NSG
members, she said.
"The NSG's NPT references, including those in the ENR
guidelines, in no way detract from the exception granted to
India by NSG members in 2008 and in no way reflect upon
India's nonproliferation record," she said.
These references reinforce the commitment of NSG
members to prevent the transfer of items that could be used
for weapons purposes, which is the mission of the regime
itself and a basic nonproliferation principle shared by India,
Nuland said.
Reiterating that the US remains fully committed to
expanding civil nuclear cooperation with India, she said the
Obama Administration has also made clear its strong support
for India's full membership in the four export control
regimes, including the NSG, in a phased manner.
"We were pleased that (Indian) Foreign Secretary
(Nirupama) Rao led an Indian delegation on an outreach visit
to the NSG in the Hague earlier this spring, and were pleased
that India's expression of interest in membership has been an
active topic of discussion at the plenary this week," the US
official said. PTI LKJ
SSB