Washington: A former US government official has said while the civilian nuclear deal between India and the United States could well end up with the next administration, a new American President is not likely to scuttle what has been achieved of it.

"I certainly hope that wouldn't happen," said Bruce Riedel, a former senior official of the National Security Council in-charge of Asia, when asked if a new President is likely to scuttle the civilian nuclear initiative. Riedel also said in an interview to the Council on Foreign Relations that American-Indian relations, including the nuke deal should not become hostage to New Delhi s ties with Iran.

"This deal is the basis for strong US-Indian relationship and I support it. There is certainly a possibility that a new administration may try to strengthen the nonproliferation parts of it, and might, particularly if the Democrats are elected, try to revive the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). "But the first step there of course would be for the United States to ratify the CTBT.

I don't think we could go to the Indians and ask them to do something that we haven't done so far," he said. The delay by India on the civilian nuclear deal is entirely due to politics in the governing coalition, maintained Riedel. "The Congress negotiated the deal and it wants to conclude it. But its junior partner in the coalition, the Communists, opposes the deal for a very simple reason. They recognize that the deal is the pathway by which US-Indian relations are going to get much stronger.

Source : PTI