Kissinger 'just happens to be visiting at a time when it's the hottest subject for discussion'

Times of India
Nuke deal not easy to salvage: Kissinger
31 Oct 2007

He clarified that his visit had nothing to do with the deal; he just happens to be visiting at a time when it's the hottest subject for discussion. He felt it was a very good deal for India and in case it gets nixed now, it won't be easy to salvage it.

"The schedule is tough. Soon the US will get into election mode. There will be new people in Congress who will have no commitment to push the deal through," he said. "The more obstacles appear on the Indian side, the more opponents to the deal will be strengthened in the US internal debate."

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Kissinger moved centre stage as the discussion moved to China. The man who is synonymous with ping-pong diplomacy that eventually opened China to the US and the world, said he did not believe analysts who saw Washington's cozying up with Delhi as a foil against the Chinese juggernaut.

"I don't think India can be used as a counterweight to China," he said. As he prepared to wind up, the question was popped to him: "Who do you think is going to be the next US president?" Kissinger laughed. "I have never backed a winning candidate," he said, adding that even when Richard Nixon, the man who picked him to be secretary of state, was running, he had put his money on Nelson Rockefeller.

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