Some more steps from India needed to implement N-deal: Blake

Lalit K Jha

Washington, May 15 (PTI) India needs to take a "couple of
steps" to fully implement the landmark Indo-US civil nuclear
deal which has changed the architecture of the global
non-proliferation regime, a top American diplomat has said.

"It (nuclear deal) is going very well ... There is still
a couple of steps that the Indians have to take to fully
implement that agreement," Ambassador Robert Blake, President
Barack Obama's nominee for the post of Assistant Secretary of
State for South and Central Asia, said.

His remarks came in response to a question at his
confirmation hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee.

Blake, who was till recently US Ambassador to Sri Lanka,
said that first of all India has to bring the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards agreement into force.

Then they also have to file with the IAEA a declaration
of their nuclear facilities, he informed the Senators, who
wanted to know the latest status of the historic nuclear deal,
which consumed much of the time of the Congress in the last
couple of years.

"That would be consistent with the separation plan that
they outlined in 2006. So there are still several steps that
need to be taken, and we'll be working closely with our
friends in the Indian government to see that those are done
rapidly," said Blake, who has also served as Deputy Ambassador
at the US Embassy in New Delhi.

Observing that the nuclear deal is an important part of
the relationship between the two countries, he said: It's
become a bit of a symbol, because it really changed the
architecture of the global non-proliferation regime." PTI LKJ
AM