Date:24/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/24/stories/2006052419041400.htm

National

No pact with U.S. on nuclear test ban

Diplomatic Correspondent

India says changes in U.S. law key to civil nuclear cooperation

India to press for speeding up things in Congress
India committed to joint statement, but not ready to make this a treaty obligation

Sees no point in safeguards agreement before U.S. amends legislation or NSG alters guidelines

NEW DELHI: India is averse to the idea of giving legal status to its moratorium on conducting further nuclear tests in any bilateral agreement with the United States, official sources said on Tuesday with reference to the civilian nuclear understanding with Washington. In an attempt to clear the confusion on the issue, the sources stated that India was bound by its commitment contained in the July 18, 2005 joint statement, but was not prepared to transform this into a treaty obligation.

Saran to meet Burns

The sources revealed that Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, who is scheduled to meet his U.S. counterpart Nicholas Burns in London on Wednesday and Thursday, will tell the American official that speed was of the essence in getting the civilian nuclear understanding through Congress.

Difficult to predict

"We want to get it [the civilian nuclear understanding] through the U.S. Congress as quickly as possible," they maintained, admitting it was difficult to predict what would happen in Congress after the November elections in the U.S.

Different view

The sources also stated that there were some members of the U.S. Congress, who wanted to link the draft legislation introduced in both the Houses to waive technology cooperation restrictions on India, with the civil nuclear understanding (termed the 1-2-3 agreement by Mr. Burns) currently being negotiated by the two sides.

India had understood that these members wanted to make the changes in American laws only when the 1-2-3 agreement was a done deal.

However, New Delhi was clear that the "key" to commencing civil nuclear cooperation with the U.S. was making changes in American legislation.

India-specific

Pointing out that New Delhi was engaged in discussing the contours of an India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the sources revealed that Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar and Scientific Adviser R. Chidambaram were in Vienna recently for talks with the IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

Makes no sense

However, India was of the opinion that concluding a safeguards agreement with the IAEA made no sense before the U.S. made changes in its domestic legislation or the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) altered its guidelines for New Delhi.

Asked what was happening within the NSG, the sources stated that major members of the Group would wait for the amending legislation to pass through the U.S. Congress before making any changes in their own guidelines.