India to sell nuclear deal to world, soothe critics

By Krittivas Mukherjee

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will take its civilian nuclear deal with the United States to the world looking to secure fuel supplies and reactor technology, analysts said, while seeking to soothe critics with a strong non-proliferation pitch.

But it is unlikely India will launch formal nuclear trade negotiations ahead of the new deal's ratification by the U.S. Congress, given the strong backing from Washington that helped seal the deal.

The 45 nations of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on Saturday backed a U.S. proposal and adopted a one-off waiver of a 34-year-old global ban on nuclear trade with India, allowing New Delhi and Washington to do business.

Congressional approval is the final hurdle for the agreement, seen as the cornerstone of India-U.S. relations and essential to India's rising energy needs to power its booming economy.

The deal could come up for a vote in Congress this month. In the meantime, India could open informal negotiations for nuclear reactors and uranium supplies.

Robinder Sachdev, president of public diplomacy think tank Imagindia, said he expected India would adopt a two-pronged approach: making public announcements on disarmament, while lobbying the two houses of Congress and overseas Indian groups.

Critics, many of them in the U.S. Congress, believe the deal undermines efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and sets a precedent allowing other nations to seek to buy such technology without signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"The onus of seeing the deal through is on the Bush administration," Sachdev said.