Hillary for Indo-US nuke deal

Senator Hillary Clinton has come out in open support of the civilian Indo-US nuclear deal. A Democratic presidential aspirant, Hillary had so far kept quite on the issue, despite attending several reception hosted by her Indian American friends in support of the deal.

‘‘I intend to vote in support of this legislation,’’ Hillary said in a statement after the Senate voted 16-2 in favour of the bill.

An open statement of support from Hillary, political observers here say, has boosted India’s chances in the Senate.

The legislation approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is an improvement over the proposal by the Bush administration, which Hillary said sought to ‘‘undercut’’ Congressional authority by asking them to approve an agreement even before it had been negotiated with India, and before India reached its nuclear safeguards agreement with the IAEA.

She said it retains Congressional prerogatives and also ensures that the Congress will not have to vote to approve a final agreement until every nation in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) agreed to permit the transfer of peaceful nuclear technology.

‘‘By working through the NSG, we will help strengthen the group and the greater international nonproliferation regime that is centre stage as we address the threats posed by the nuclear weapons programmes of Iran and North Korea,’’ she said.