US nudges India on N-deal, says 'clock is ticking'

MUTUAL INTEREST: Gates says US is eyeing Indian defence contracts worth billions of dollars.

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New Delhi: Nudging India to conclude the civil nuclear deal at the earliest, the US on Wednesday said 'the clock is ticking' and there is an 'open question' on whether the Congress will be able to take it up 'beyond this summer and September'.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates also made it clear that his country was eyeing Indian defence contracts worth billions of dollars, saying Washington wanted to have a 'place at the table' when New Delhi procures weapon systems.

"The clock is ticking in terms of how much time is available to get all the different aspects of an agreement implemented," he said just before winding up his two-day visit.

Gates did not specify any time period by which India needed to take the steps like firming up the IAEA safeguards and seeking waiver from Nuclear Suppliers Group.

He, however, made the deadline clear as he said: "With this being an election year, there is an open question about how long the Senate will be in session beyond this summer and September."

After the India-IAEA Safeguards Agreement and waiver from NSG, the nuclear agreement has to go back to the US Congress for another vote.

Without directly mentioning the stiff opposition by Left parties to operationalisation of the nuclear deal, he said the US respects India's internal politics and hopes that the government would resolve the issue in time.

The US Defence Secretary also met senior BJP leader L K Advani, whose party is also opposing the deal, in an apparent bid to seek his support.