Date:06/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/06/stories/2008090659470800.htm

National

‘Nuclear deal will get NSG nod soon’

Staff Reporter

Kakinada: Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju expressed confidence that the India-US civilian nuclear deal would get the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group’s ratification soon and asserted that India’s autonomy to explode a bomb was not bound by the Hyde Act.

That the 123 Agreement would override the provisions of Hyde Act was agreed upon by both India and the U.S. Besides, the resolve to keep six out of 16 nuclear power plants beyond the scope of the India Specific Safeguards Agreement was conveyed in no uncertain terms to the U.S. and International Atomic Energy Agency. Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Mr. Pallam Raju said there was no reason to isolate India as it had been a responsible nuclear State bound by a self-imposed no-first-use doctrine and unlike Pakistan, it was never involved in the proliferation of nuclear technology despite it being a non-signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. India had also vowed to not target non-nuclear weapon States.

Mr. Raju said the government believed that the deal was good for the country but there were many politicians who doubted its intentions. The Minister said solar energy was a cheaper alternative but India was yet to master the technology of generating electricity from it on a massive scale.