ess than a month after Bush administration officials like Nicholas Burns publicly expressed 'frustration' and accused India of dragging its feet on the bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation accord, also known as the 123 Agreement, both India and US on Thursday expressed renewed optimism that the deal can be completed soon, but refused to provide a time line.
Later on Thursday, White House Spokesman Tony Snow said, "India is a very important partner for the United States. You saw the civilian nuclear agreement, also agricultural cooperation. India is going to be a vital part in pursuing the Doha Round as well."
On Friday, US said it wants India to use its "influence" to make Iran behave responsibly as it noted that the American lawmakers' concerns over ties between New Delhi and Tehran have been conveyed to the Manmohan Singh government officially.
A strong-worded letter from senior lawmakers like Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, ranking Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Howard Berman, Gary Ackerman, who is the Chair of the House Middle East and South Asia subcommittee, and others saying Indo-US partnership could suffer if India's links with Iran remained.
Image: Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon with Condoleezza Rice.
Photograph: Kiran Jagga
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Click here to read the US lawmakers' letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
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