US will honour all N-deal commitments: Rice

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December 10, 2006 19:27 IST

Terming as a "historic achievement" the passage of the bill to implement the Indo-US nuclear deal, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday said the United States intends to fulfill all commitments it made to India under the landmark pact.

Rice welcomed the "the strong bipartisan support for the US-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation initiative shown by the Congress in adopting the legislation of the Henry J Hyde US-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006."

The secretary of state, who played a pivotal role in steering the legislation through Congress, made her observations in a statement in Washington, DC, after the nuclear bill sailed through the final legislative process by a thumping majority of 330 to 59 votes in the House of Representatives on Friday and was passed by unanimous consent in the Senate on Saturday.

"This is a historic achievement and a major step forward toward realising President (George W) Bush's and Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh's vision of a strategic partnership between the world's oldest and largest democracies," she said.

"The United States intends to fulfill all of the commitments it made to India in the July 18 and March 2 Joint Statements," she added.

"We greatly appreciate that Congress has made the completion of this legislation a priority at this important juncture in our relations with India, and their efforts in addressing the concerns of the administration," Rice said.

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