Amid demands from Left parties to rework the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement, US Under Secretary Nicholas Burns has said the deal could not be renegotiated."We cannot renegotiate it because the agreement is done. Neither government wishes it to be renegotiated because it is now complete," Burns said in a magazine interview published this weekend.The agreement will allow India to buy atomic fuel, technology and plants in spite of not being party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Critics, however, say it would limit the Indian government's strategic options.Burns refused to comment on the criticism levelled by Left parties, whose support is crucial to the survival of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress-led UPA government in Parliament. "So, I don't have any particular message for them except to say that in the 21st century, we have seen the global balance of forces shifting," Burns, the deal's chief US negotiator, said.The approval of the US Congress is also required before the deal becomes operational.
