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Ackerman-led team meets Manmohan

NEW DELHI: A U.S. Congressional delegation led by Gary Ackerman on Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The members are here to urge India to complete all processes of the civil nuclear deal as soon as possible.

Mr. Ackerman, who lobbied for the deal, also wants India to reconcile its position on Iran with that of the West.

Mr. Ackerman, member of the pro-India caucus of American legislators, has ruled out a lame duck session of the U.S. Congress. In other words, there will be no special session between November and the election of a new U.S. President next year. This implies India must speedily sign a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and get exemption from the Nuclear Suppliers group so that Congress can vote on the 123 Agreement during its normal schedule of sittings.

U.S. legislators think that if Congress is unable to decide on the deal during its remaining sittings, the next administration is likely to reopen the agreement. This point, made by Mr. Ackerman, Chair of the House Foreign Relations Sub-Committee on South Asia, was mentioned earlier in February by another influential delegation of legislators comprising Joseph Biden, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel.

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