India in diplomatic overdrive to seal US nuclear pact

India said yesterday it was sending out envoys to lobby for the final international clearances needed to finalise a controversial nuclear energy deal with the United States.
The diplomatic offensive comes after the ruling coalition survived a hard-fought confidence vote in parliament sparked by left-wing and communist opposition to the pact.
Government officials told AFP that senior cabinet ministers and foreign ministry officials had left New Delhi to solicit the support of members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
Science Minister Kapil Sibal is travelling to IAEA headquarters in Vienna while foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon is in Germany to persuade Berlin, a member of the influential NSG that regulates nuclear commerce, to back the pact.
Another senior government envoy, Shyam Saran, was in Ireland, another NSG member, while National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan will head abroad this weekend, with his schedule not yet fixed, officials said.