VOA标准英语2008年-India's PM Set to Push Ahead With Nuclear Deal

The Indian prime minister is going to attend the G-8 summit in Japan, after having mustered¹ enough political support at home to push through a stalled civilian² nuclear pact³ with the United States. Anjana Pasricha has a report from New Delhi.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's agenda in Japan includes several meetings with world leaders, on the sidelines of the G-8 summit.

The most crucial will be a meeting with President Bush, Wednesday, where he is expected to convey his intention to take the final steps to seal a civilian nuclear deal signed between the two countries.

These include seeking an approval from the International Atomic Energy Agency and a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group. So far, the government has not done so because of strong opposition⁴ to the deal from the Congress-led coalition's leftist allies.

But after a week of hectic⁵ political maneuvering⁶, the Congress Party has won crucial support for the deal from a former adversary⁷ - a regional party known as the Samajwadi Party.

The Samajwadi Party says the nuclear pact is in national interest and has promised to extend parliament support to the government.

Its support will be crucial to ensure that a majority of members in parliament back the nuclear pact.

"We have reiterated⁸ our position," said Tom Vadakan, spokesman for the Congress Party. "From time to time, the prime minister has stated that before operationalizing the whole deal, he would bring it to parliament."

The Samajwadi Party controls 39 members of parliament in the 543 lower house of parliament. It can help the government survive, even if communist parties withdraw crucial support as they have repeatedly threatened to do.

The communist parties say the deal will undermine India's independent foreign policy and restrict its nuclear weapons program.

The nuclear deal will give India access to civilian nuclear technology, even though it has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Both New Delhi and Washington want to seal the pact before the U.S. presidential election, in November. American officials have repeatedly warned that the fate of the pact will be uncertain if it is delayed and has to face the next U.S. administration.

The Indian prime minister says the deal is needed to give India more energy alternatives, to drive its economy. If it goes through, the deal is expected to cement growing ties between New Delhi and Washington.

1 mustered   

v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发

参考例句：

• We mustered what support we could for the plan. 我们极尽所能为这项计划寻求支持。
• The troops mustered on the square. 部队已在广场上集合。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 hectic   

adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的

参考例句：

• I spent a very hectic Sunday.我度过了一个忙乱的星期天。
• The two days we spent there were enjoyable but hectic.我们在那里度过的两天愉快但闹哄哄的。

6 maneuvering   

v.移动，用策略( maneuver的现在分词 )；操纵

参考例句：

• This Manstein did, with some brilliant maneuvering under the worse winter conditions. 曼施坦因在最恶劣的严冬条件下，出色地施展了灵活机动的战术，终于完成了任务。 来自辞典例句
• In short, large goals required farsighted policies, not tactical maneuvering. 一句话，大的目标需要有高瞻远瞩的政策，玩弄策略是不行的。 来自辞典例句

7 adversary   

adj.敌手，对手

参考例句：

• He saw her as his main adversary within the company.他将她视为公司中主要的对手。
• They will do anything to undermine their adversary's reputation.他们会不择手段地去损害对手的名誉。

8 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。