Rice Heads to India Following Nuclear Accord Vote
By VOA News
02 October 2008
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travels to India Friday for talks on the U.S.-India civilian nuclear agreement given final congressional approval by the U.S. Senate Wednesday. Rice will visit Kazakhstan following her visit to New Delhi.
India's ruling Congress party is hailing the Senate's approval of the nuclear pact, calling it a monumental achievement. Secretary Rice will hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other senior Indian officials. She will also meet with opposition leaders, who oppose the agreement saying it infringes on Indian sovereignty.
The deal ends a 34-year ban on U.S. civilian nuclear trade with India. Under the agreement, the U.S. will share civilian nuclear technology and material with India, while India will allow some inspections of its nuclear facilities.
In Pakistan, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani says his country wants a similar agreement with the U.S. India and Pakistan are nuclear rivals and both countries carried out nuclear tests in 1998. Neither country has signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
U.S. and Indian officials say the pact will foster nuclear cooperation and could lead to billions of dollars of investment opportunities for U.S. companies involved in nuclear technology.
Critics of the agreement say it hurts global efforts to control the spread of nuclear technology.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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