Indian diplomat named special envoy for US nuke talks
Afp, New Delhi
India's top diplomat Shyam Saran was named yesterday special envoy for negotiations with the United States on their controversial civilian nuclear energy deal. He will be replaced as foreign secretary by India's High Commissioner to Pakistan, 57-year-old Shiv Shankar Menon, the prime minister's office said in a statement. Saran's appointment showed the importance India is placing on successfully concluding its nuclear deal with the United States that New Delhi has said is crucial to meeting the energy needs of power-starved country. Under the deal inked in March, the United States will aid the development of civil nuclear power in India in return for New Delhi placing its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency inspections. The United States has withheld its civilian nuclear know-how from India since 1974, when it conducted its first nuclear test.
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