US says it’ll veto Sino-Pak nuclear deal

The US has said it would vote against an exemption for China to sell two civil nuclear reactors to Pakistan at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting, in a new move to step up pressure to get the controversial deal annulled. Making US’s stand clear for the first time, a top Obama administration official told lawmakers that Washington would vote against the Sino-Pak deal when it comes before the NSG. Vann Van Diepen, acting assistant secretary of state for International Security and Non Proliferation, in response to a question from Congressman Ed Royce, at a Congressional hearing convened by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Royce, who is co-chair of House India Caucus, had questions about the Obama administration’s stand on the Sino-Pak nuclear deal. The State Department official said the US would vote against any exemption for China to sell two civil nuclear reactors to Pakistan. The NSG runs by consensus, but its decisions have no legal binding on its members. When the issue came up at the last NSG meeting in New Zealand, the US had sought more information from Beijing on this issue.