US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that while the US will “not support India joining the Non Proliferation Treaty as a nuclear weapon state” it will strive to “include India” in the “global nonproliferation regime” through the civilian nuclear deal.

Addressing the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin and Asian American Hotel Owners Association, Rice said that the US Administration is working hard to have the deal approved by Congress this month before its sojourn. She now wanted India to fulfill “its remaining commitments under the agreements” as agreed by the two nations last year. India and the US are discussing a bilateral pact known as “123 Agreement”  on how civilian nuclear technology will be shared. India is also discussing a separate safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Asserting that the deal was a “net gain for the cause of nonproliferation worldwide,” Rice said that Britain, France, Russia, and the influential IAEA chief Mohammed El Baradei supported the deal. She said that the deal was key to unlocking the full promise of bilateral partnership.