The United States today rejected the charge that it covered up documents related to the Indo-US nuclear deal that set off a storm in India. State Department spokesman Robert Wood also said that New Delhi’s obligations were very clear as it had agreed to a moratorium on nuclear testing.
“The Indians understand what our views are with regard to nuclear testing. We’ve made them clear. And they understand those. There was no attempt to cover up anything,” Wood said, brushing off suggestion that Washington kept the document under wraps to protect the government in India.
“People have that interpretation, but that certainly was not the position of the US government. We weren’t trying to keep anything under wraps. We’ve had discussions with various members of Congress about this agreement. We’ll continue to do so,” he said.
A 26-page document, released by Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, contains an assertion by the Bush administration that its assurances of nuclear supplies to India are not meant to “insulate” it against the consequences of a nuclear test.
Opposition parties in India have hauled the government over the coals saying it has been kept in the dark by the administration and that the government lied to Parliament about fuel supplies in the event of India testing a nuclear weapon.
Asked if Washington would cut off supplies if India conducted a nuclear test, the senior State Department official replied, “You’re asking me to speculate on something, and I’m not going to do that. I’m just going to tell you exactly what our policy is.”
Wood said, “Certainly, India’s obligations under the 123 agreement are very clear and the Indians have agreed to a moratorium on testing. And we expect they will adhere to that commitment. We’ve stressed over and over again the importance of this agreement, not only to the United States and India, but to our overall non-proliferation efforts around the world.”
Asked if the State Department’s answers to a Congressional committee were kept under wraps to make it easier for India to get the agreement approved, Wood replied, “With all respect, I think I’ve said about as much as I can say on the subject at this point”.
“I don’t want to get into all of the discussions that are going on about the agreement. Obviously, a number of countries have concerns about the agreement. And they’ve expressed those concerns. We have tried to give answers. The Indians have, as well. I don’t think it serves the interest of any of us to talk about the negotiations that are ongoing, except to say this agreement is important. We think it contributes greatly to the global nonproliferation efforts,” he said.
