New Delhi
September 6, 2008

We welcome the decision earlier today of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to adjust its guidelines to enable full civil nuclear cooperation with India. This is a forward-looking and momentous decision. It marks the end of India’s decades long isolation from the nuclear mainstream and of the technology denial regime. It is a recognition of India’s impeccable non-proliferation credentials and its status as a state with advanced nuclear technology. It will give an impetus to India’s pursuit of environmentally sustainable economic growth.

I thank the United States and other member countries of the Nuclear Suppliers Group for the role they have played in ensuring this outcome. The opening of full civil nuclear cooperation between India and the international community will be good for India and for the world. We look forward to establishing a mutually beneficial partnership with friendly countries in an area which is important for both global energy security as well as to meet the challenge of climate change.