BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, July 4: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can be expected to discuss the status of the civilian nuclear deal with United States President George W. Bush on July 9 on the sidelines of the Group of Eight (G-8) summit in Japan, foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon said.
He said Indian officials will approach the IAEA for firming up a safeguards agreement once they get political clearance, but he would not say how soon New Delhi intends to take that step. "Once we take a decision to approach the IAEA, we will let you know," he said without getting into the issue of timelines and deadlines. "We would like to go ahead with it. We go ahead with it as soon as we can," he told a reporter who sought his response to US Congressman Gary Acker-man's comments that time was running out.
Mr Ackerman on Friday led a US congressional delegation for a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The delegation is understood to have iterated that the US Congress will adjourn in September and will meet only after the completion of the presidential election in January 2009.
India should get a waiver from the 45-member NSG by August because there will be no lame-duck session of the US Congress, Mr Ackerman has told reporters.
Foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon said the US is committed to getting India the exemption from the NSG under the July 18, 2005 India-US joint statement. He added India is in touch with members of the NSG. Many of the countries participating in the G-8 summit are members of the NSG.
To a question on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, Mr Menon said India would continue discussions with Iran and Pakistan.
The Prime Minister will leave for Japan on Monday. On the sidelines of the summit, several bilateral discussions are scheduled for him. The G-8 comprises the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Japan, Germany, Italy and Canada. Five other countries - India, China, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico - are invited for an outreach summit with the G-8.
Dr Singh is expected to hold bilateral meetings with the Presidents of China, Russia, the US, Mexico, South Korea and Indonesia and the Japanese and Australian Prime Ministers.
