Friday, March 3 2006 17:11 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: The world community and the IAEA hailed the landmark Indo-US civil nuclear deal, with major powers including Britain and France saying the agreement would benefit the non-proliferation regime.

China reacted cautiously to the deal clinched during talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W Bush in New Delhi yesterday, while Pakistan said it had 'no objection' to the agreement but sought a similar deal with Washington.

Throwing his weight behind the deal, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said it would have a 'net gain for the non-proliferation regime' besides making significant contribution to economic and environmental objectives of India and the international community.

He said he looked forward to working closely with the US, India and partners in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and elsewhere on the detail of this 'important issue'.

French President Jacques Chirac said the deal marked progress both for nuclear non-proliferation controls and for efforts to curb global warming.

Describing India as 'a responsible power', he said that it was "indispensable" to ensure that the country has access to civilian nuclear technology to enable it to meet "Its immense energy needs, while limiting its emissions of greenhouse gases."

During Chirac's visit to New Delhi recently the two countries signed a declaration expressing their intent to have a civil nuclear cooperation agreement.

Japan, a key campaigner of nuclear non-proliferation, also endorsed the deal.

"It should be meaningful that India and the US helddialogue and agreed in various areas as India, the US and Japan share the values of freedom, democracy, basic human rights and the rule of law," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary and government spokesman Shinzo Abe said.

He said Japan understood the strategic importance of India and the significance of meeting its energy demand.

Abe emphasised that it would be 'wrong' to compare the Indian nuclear programme with that of North Korea, considering that the latter is 'suspected of violating the 1994 agreement' and 'the issue of its nuclear (ambitions) has since posed a grave concern to the international community'.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said, "We've considered very carefully over the last few months the American proposal for this agreement that President Bush has signed with the Indians, and our view of it is that it's a good step forward in what's been a difficult situation. It is a step forward and we are pleased about that."

He, however, ruled out lifting the Australian ban on uranium exports to India since it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).

Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohd ElBaradei said the agreement would be 'a step forward towards universalisation of the international safeguards regime' and make India 'an important partner in the non-proliferation regime.'