WASHINGTON: Seeking Congress support to amend laws for implementation of the historic Indo-US nuclear agreement, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday said it was a strategic achievement which would strengthen international security. "We are consulting extensively with Congress as we seek to amend the laws needed to implement the agreement. This is an opportunity that should not be missed," Rice said in an article in 'The Washington Post'. "Looking back decades from now, we will recognise this moment as the time when America invested the strategic capital needed to recast its relationship with India. Rice said the agreement was a strategic achievement which will strengthen international security, enhance energy security and environmental protection, foster economic and technological development and help transform the partnership between the world's oldest and the world's largest democracy. Asserting that a thriving, democratic India will be a pillar of Asia's progress, shaping its development for decades, she said "this is a future that America wants to share with India, and there is not a moment to lose." Our civilian nuclear agreement is an essential step towards our goal of transforming America's partnership with India. "For too long during the past century, differences over domestic policies and international purposes kept India and the United States estranged." "India's civilian government functions transparently and accountably. It is fighting terrorism and extremism, and it has a 30-year record of responsible behaviour on nonproliferation matters," the Secretary of State said. On protests on the nuclear deal with India from other countries, she said aspiring proliferators such as North Korea or Iran may seek to draw connections between themselves and India, but their rhetoric rings hollow. "Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism that has violated its own commitments and is defying the international community's efforts to contain its nuclear ambitions. North Korea, the least transparent country in the world, threatens its neighbors and proliferates weapons. There is simply no comparison between the Iranian or North Korean regimes and India." "Our agreement with India will make our future more secure, by expanding the reach of the international nonproliferation regime. The International Atomic Energy Agency would gain access to India's civilian nuclear programme that it currently does not have," she said. Our agreement is also good for energy security. India, a nation of a billion people, has a massive appetite for energy to meet its growing development needs. Civilian nuclear energy will make it less reliant on unstable sources of oil and gas. The deal will allow India to contribute to and share in the advanced technology that is needed for the future development of nuclear energy. And because nuclear energy is cleaner than fossil fuels, our agreement will also benefit the environment, she said. Our agreement is good for American jobs, because it opens the door to civilian nuclear trade and cooperation between our nations.
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