US has hailed the defence end user monitoring agreement with India as a "landmark" pact, saying this could strengthen the global non-proliferation efforts and brings New Delhi into the mainstream of the regime.
"We believe that this agreement between the US and India is important in our overall global non-proliferation efforts," State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters yesterday. "It is a very significant agreement. We are very proud," he said.
EUMA was finalised during the recent visit to India by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"End user means is basically making sure that material once it is delivered does not go to any other party unless there is some, sort of, agreement by the US," Wood said.
"We believe that this agreement brought India into the nuclear non-proliferation mainstream. It is a landmark event," he said.
Asked how the US would carry out the verification, Wood said: "I am not going to get into the details. Those types of issues will be worked out between the two sides and in consultation with the IAEA and other players".
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Responding to a question on protests by opposition parties in India on the pact, Wood said the agreement is in the best interests of both the countries.
"India made a conscious decision to sign this agreement. India has said it's in its best interests. We certainly think it's in the interests of the United States," Wood said.
"We think it is an overall good agreement. And we will need to implement the agreement. Those activities are already under way. But I really just don't have anything to say about, you know, a specific comment on it," he said.