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Politics Threatens U.S.-India Nuclear Deal

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The Washington Post

Published: October 16, 2007

WASHINGTON - A controversial nuclear deal between the United States and India appears close to collapse after the Indian prime minister told President Bush on Monday that 'certain difficulties' will prevent India from moving forward on the pact for the foreseeable future.

The main obstacle does not involve the specific terms of the agreement, but rather India's internal politics, including fears from leftist parties that India is moving too close to the United States, according to officials and experts familiar with the deal.

Besieged over the past two months by growing opposition to nuclear energy cooperation with the United States, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicated over the weekend that he would rather save his coalition government than the nuclear pact.

'What we have done with the U.S., it is an honorable deal, it is good for India and it is good for the world,' Singh said recently. 'But we are in the realm of politics and within our coalition, there are differing perceptions.'

Neither government appeared eager to announce the setback to what had been billed as one of the Bush administration's biggest foreign policy achievements.

The deal lays out a framework for peaceful nuclear cooperation that would eventually allow trade in nuclear reactors, technology and fuel between the two nations.

It permits India to reprocess nuclear fuel and opens the way for the United States to become a 'reliable' supplier for India's energy program.

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