US working 'very closely' to ensure India's NSG membership, reaffirms envoy

The US is working "very closely" with international partners to secure India's Nuclear Suppliers Group membership, its envoy Kenneth Juster said on Thursday and hoped that New Delhi would join the Australia Group on chemical and biological weapons in the "very near future".

India has been seeking entry into the 48-member elite nuclear club, which controls nuclear trade, but China has repeatedly stonewalled its bid.

Juster acknowledged that the US and India faced challenging and complicated issues related to the transfer of sensitive US technology with both military and conventional applications.

"India sought increased access to this technology, while the US wanted to ensure that any transfers would be used solely by the designated recipients for the agreed-upon purposes.

"This required a sophisticated system of export controls, which India, candidly, did not have at the time," Juster said in his first policy speech since taking over as the US ambassador to India.

The initial interactions on the subject were "quite formal and somewhat strained due to the wide gulf" in the positions of the two nations, Juster acknowledged.

He said the US had moved from a restrictive policy on the export of dual-use items to India to a much more "liberal one".

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Russia summons French envoy over its billionaire senator Kerimov's arrest

Russian billionaire senator Suleyman Kerimov was charged on Thursday with tax fraud in Nice, hours after Moscow protested his arrest in the French Riviera resort.

Kerimov was detained upon arrival at the airport on Monday, where he faced two days of questioning over alleged tax evasion involving the purchase of luxury properties.

He has now been released under strict conditions including handing over his passport and posting bail of five million euros. He also faces restrictions on his movement, state prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre said.

A source close to the probe told AFP that Kerimov was accused of hiding tens of millions of euros from tax authorities while buying a string of properties on the glitzy Riviera through intermediaries.

His detention prompted the Russian government to summon France's deputy ambassador and angry Russian MPs passed a resolution branding the arrest a violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, urging Moscow to press for his release.
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