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India denies "revision" in Indo-US nuke deal

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, April 10, IRNA
India-US-Nuclear deal
India has denied any "substantial changes" or " revision" in the Indo-US nuclear deal and hoped the new US legislation to implement it would be framed within already agreed parameters.

Maintaining that the Indo-US deal was "delicately balanced," Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran made it clear that "substantial changes" or "revisions" to it were unacceptable to India.

Debunking apprehensions the deal damages the credibility of India's nuclear deterrent, he said, "We have preserved all our basic positions."
"I see no reason why there should be anxieties that we are always vulnerable to pressure," he said in an interview with the private Indian news channel CNN-IBN.

"No, absolutely not. One hundred percent no," he shot back when asked whether India's defence security had been sacrificed in finalizing the agreement on its civilian nuclear energy cooperation with the UA.

Saran, who has just returned from talks with the Bush
Administration on implementation of the agreement, said it was "very important to remember that whatever we have agreed upon is the result of very, very difficult, very tough negotiations."
"What we have at this point of time is an extremely carefully, delicately balanced understanding. Whatever legislation that is passed must remain within those parameters," he added.

Saran, who met several American lawmakers in Washington, said he expressed the "strong hope" that "revisions will not be made" and there will be "no substantial changes."
Contending that India has done "rather well" in the negotiations, Saran said: "We have preserved all our basic positions. We have preserved our basic interests."
"Why are we always so worried about the screws being tightened on us as if someone can come and turn the screws on us and we will just lie back and be screwed," he said.

On concerns voiced by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who demanded that India should try to get an all-time waiver from Washington as was the case with China, Saran said there was a "factual problem" in this demand.

He pointed out that while China is a nuclear weapon state under the NPT, India was not.

Asked how India would respond if China and Pakistan carried out nuclear tests, Saran said that under the agreement India's decision on a moratorium on further testing remained and that there was no mention of any "permanent ban".

He said India had taken a very conscious decision of undertaking nuclear tests in 1998 on the ground that it was important to take the step despite knowing what would happen.

"In the future, it will be exactly the same."
Denying that he had received a "chilly reception" from US congressmen and senators during his Washington trip, Saran said that all of them nonetheless agreed that the nuclear deal was an important element of the emerging Indo-US relations.

The American lawmakers said their were questions that needed to be answered, he said.

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