The Indo-US civil nuclear deal may face questions from China in the Nuclear Suppliers Group, former American deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott said in New Delhi on Monday while expressing confidence that the agreement will sail through in the Congress by the year-end.
He said it was his "guess" that when the Indo-US nuclear deal comes up before NSG, China would ask why an exception is being made with regard to India and not to the country it is close with, an apparent reference to Pakistan.
The answer is clear that it is because Pakistan has an "extremely lousy record" with regard to non-proliferation, Talbott, who served in the previous Clinton administration, said during an interaction in Delhi.
The US is talking to the Chinese to sort out that problem, he said.
Suggesting that the deal clinched by the Bush administration was not perfect, he said the present government could have sought a better deal, which would cover fissile material control.
Talbott, who had been engaged in strategic dialogue with then external affairs minister Jaswant Singh, said the agreement had initially been sought by the Clinton administration and that the ground for the nuclear deal with India had been laid during the previous Bharatiya Janata Party-led government.
The Clinton administration had laid five benchmarks for the agreement -- Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, export control, nuclear restraint, Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty and progress in Indo-Pak relations, but could not conclude the deal.
Talbott said India should see nuclear cooperation with US not only as an opportunity, but also an obligation and work with P-5 and the Non-Proliferation Treaty to fulfil that obligation.
Observing that the Senate version of the bill on the nuclear deal could contain so-called "killer" amendments, the former deputy secretary of state however expressed confidence that the deal will sail through the US Congress by the year-end as there is tremendous bi-partisan support for it.
He insisted that controversial aspects like the clause requiring US president to report to the Congress annually on India's nuclear programme did not amount to infringement on New Delhi's sovereignty.
Obstacles in the path of the bill could be the interpretation in India of the working of the US system of democracy, he said, but expressed confidence that President Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be handling the situation in such a way that these obstacles don't become serious.
Talbott also allayed the perception that Democrat leader Hillary Clinton had not supported the deal and said that irrespective of who succeeds Bush as president, the deal and other aspects of relations with India will be strengthend.
He said that Indo-US relations should not be confined to nuclear cooperation, but expanded to tap the potential.
He sought to allay fears that outsourcing could become a victim of electioneering in view of different positions taken by some people.