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| Sunday, 15 January 2006 |
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World |  |
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US diplomat
to talk on nuclear, ethnic conflict in South Asia
WASHINGTON, Jan 14, 2006 (AFP) A senior US diplomat will travel to South Asia next week for talks aimed at firming a civilian nuclear deal with India, setting Pakistan on the road to democracy and halting rising violence in Sri Lanka. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns was to fly to the region after participating in multilateral talks in London over the Iranian nuclear issue on Monday, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. He did not give specific dates on the visit to the three South Asian nations, which would extend to January 25. In New Delhi, Burns is scheduled to discuss with his counterpart, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, moves to push forward a landmark agreement under which the United States has pledged to transfer civilian nuclear technology to India. The pact was signed by US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2005. Officials have been laboring for months on the implementation mechanism, especially India's need to separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities and place its reactors under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections. Burns and Saran will hold a fourth meeting of the so-called Joint Working Group on Civil Nuclear Cooperation and "discuss how we go about implementing" the agreement," McCormack said. Under US law, the nuclear deal has to be approved by the US Congress, which has stressed the need for it to be "credible, transparent and defensible from a non-proliferation standpoint." Some US lawmakers questioned the wisdom of providing atomic fuel and technology to a nuclear weapons power that has refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. India tested nuclear weapons in May 1998 a move matched by rival Pakistan the same month, sparking concerns of a nuclear arms race in South Asia. On his inaugural trip to Pakistan, Burns is scheduled to meet with senior Pakistani officials and opinion leaders. He wants to discuss broadening US-Pakistan ties, Pakistan's progress
towards full democracy, ways for greater regional cooperation, and continued
US support for relief and reconstruction efforts following the devastating
October earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people, the State Department
said. |
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