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Still committed to nuclear deal, says Saran

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister’s special envoy Shyam Saran has denied that the government had not anticipated the opposition to the nuclear deal when it signed the July 18, 2005, statement with the United States.

He said the draft text of the safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had been almost agreed upon, but the government would go “through the political process” before inking it.

During discussions in Parliament, after the signing of the Manmohan Singh-George Bush statement, concerns were expressed, but none found fault with the separation plan and other aspects. “What people said was we would like to see the concerns addressed with respect to India’s strategic programme, and the indigenous R&D programme should not be compromised. So we agreed to keep Parliament, political parties and civil society fully informed about what exactly was happening in the negotiations. To say that we were already aware that this would not be supported by other political forces in India, I don’t think it was that obvious,” the former Foreign Secretary told members of the Indian Women’s Press Corps.

“Subsequently, there have been discussions and there have been very valid questions raised on what would be the nature of obligation by us and the U.S. which we have tried to answer and continue to do. This government remains committed to the agreement and we continue to work together to make it a practical reality sooner rather than later,” he added.

He said the government was trying to persuade the Left parties to agree to the deal and to remove their reservations and concerns. It was also pointing out the advantages of going ahead with the deal.

“At no point have we said we are not ready to address the issues of concern to them,” he said.

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