New Delhi, September 06, 2008: Hailing the "historic" waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) as "a triumphant day for India," the US Saturday said the nuclear cartel's exemption will strengthen global non-proliferation and that it was ready to "accomplish the final step with Congress।"
"This is a triumphant day for India। The NSG consensus reached in Vienna today is the culmination of years of hard work and cooperation between India and the US to bring India into the global nuclear mainstream," Mulford, one of the key US interlocutors on the nuclear deal, told reporters here.
The US envoy congratulated the government and people of India on this "historic agreement" ending New Delhi's nearly three and a half decades of nuclear isolation and lauded US President George W। Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for achieving "this remarkable breakthrough."
Underlining that the NSG's waiver will strengthen global non-proliferation, the US envoy said it will enable India to address its critical energy requirements and contribute importantly to protecting global environment।
"We will now move forward to accomplish the final step with our Congress," Mulford assured।
The US Congress is likely to consider the 123 India-US bilateral agreement when it convenes Monday। The Congress is expected to approve the 123 pact before during the forthcoming session that ends Sep 26.
Manmohan Singh and Bush are expected to sign the bilateral pact towards the end of this month in Washington that will mark the final step leading to the restoration of civilian nuclear cooperation between the two countries after a gap of more than three decades.
