Friday, September 15 2006 10:59 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The US today (Sept 15, 2006)described as a 'significant development' the endorsement of the Indo-US nuclear deal by South Africa and Brazil, key members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and said it is 'actively' interacting with key members of the multinational grouping to explain the virtues of the agreement.

"You saw a fairly significant development in that regard. The meeting between India, South Africa and Brazil where Brazil and South Africa, who are key members of NSG, stood up and said yes we support the Indian plan, we support the Indian effort, we think it is good for that to go through and be able to cooperate with India on civilian nuclear power," Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher said.

At the IBSA summit in Brasilia, Brazil and South Africa had extended their support to India for opening up avenues for international civilian nuclear cooperation.

Boucher also felt that the NSG would not be ready at the moment to decide on the Indo-US nuclear deal.

"The United States has been talking to a lot of countries, to try and get to as many countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group as possible and to try to answer their questions. We have been pretty active," he told students at the School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University.

Boucher said that while in Europe recently he pretty much grabbed anybody he could to explain the virtues of the US-India agreement.