NYT: No need for US to rush Indo-US nuclear deal

The American daily argues that there is no reason at all to rush as President Bush gave away far too much and got far too little for this deal.

As the Indian government seemed set to move ahead with the stalled nuclear deal with the US, a top American daily has underlined there was no reason for the Bush administration to rush as it had given away "too much and got far too little".

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President George Bush, who was "eager for any foreign policy win" before the expiry of his term in January 2009, is pressing the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "hard to finally work this (nuclear deal) out," The New York Times said.

In an editorial headlined, 'No Rush, Please', the American daily argued "there is no reason at all to rush. President Bush gave away far too much and got far too little for this deal".

Even as it praised President Bush for building on the Clinton administration legacy to forge stronger ties with "a burgeoning power whose democratic values provide a unique basis for cooperation," the daily said: "It was a mistake to let India and industry lobbyists persuade him to make the nuclear deal the centerpiece."

It said President Bush may be running out of time, but Congress, the IAEA and the NSG "will need plenty of it to review the agreement before deciding whether to grant their respective approvals."

"At a minimum, they must insist that international suppliers halt nuclear trade if India tests another nuclear weapon, as it last did in 1998. And they must insist that India accept the fullest possible monitoring of its civilian nuclear facilities by IAEA inspectors," the daily stressed.