Washington, July 18: A day after the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised countries tacitly endorsed the Indo-US nuclear deal, a senior state department official attributed the decision of the St Petersburg summit to a change in India’s “mindset” on nuclear non-proliferation.

“As we change our attitude towards India, it is interesting to see the Indians reflect on their relations with others in the world, particularly with some of these organisations that they have had problems with in the past,” Richard Boucher, the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said.

Boucher was speaking to Washington-based foreign journalists on the eve of the first anniversary of the announcement of the nuclear deal by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W. Bush at the White House.

World leaders, who attended the summit, declared in their statement on non-proliferation on Sunday that “we look forward to reinforcing our partnership with India”.

The statement added: “We note the commitments India has made, and encourage India to take further steps towards integration into the mainstream of strengthening the non-proliferation regime, so as to facilitate a more forthcoming approach towards nuclear cooperation to address its energy requirements, in a manner that enhances and reinforces the global non-proliferation regime.”

The change of heart in St Petersburg on Sunday was historic because the same G8 had said at its Birmingham summit in 1998 that “we condemn the nuclear tests which were carried out by India on 11 and 13 May” that year.

“We call upon India to rejoin the mainstream of international opinion, to adhere unconditionally to the NPT and the CTBT and to enter into negotiations on a global treaty to stop the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons,” that statement, four days after the first nuclear test in 1998, had said.

Boucher said yesterday that eight years after those tests, “if you look at the G8 countries, a number of them have already pronounced themselves firmly in favour of civilian nuclear cooperation with India”.

He added: “But I would point to the other side of this, as well; that India certainly has changed its attitude towards many of these organisations and towards the international non-proliferation effort.”

The US official said: “It is interesting to reflect how important it is that India is joining the international non-proliferation effort because they understand the importance of that effort to India’s future stability, security and safety”.

The most significant aspect of the G8 support for the Indo-US nuclear deal is that it has lined up pacifist, anti-nuclear Japan behind the deal.

The St Petersburg statement will also prod the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which controls global nuclear commerce, in changing its rules to favour India.

Sunday’s statement did not directly refer to the Indo-US deal. American officials here said that was not unexpected because the deal still has no legal basis. It is yet to be passed in the US Congress, while India is still negotiating its protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency and a bilateral pact with the US.