India refuses to toe US line on nuke tests

Giving some credence to opponents of the Indo-US nuclear deal who said the proposed deal would impose a cap on further testing by India, the government today revealed that the deal did have some indications of such a proposal.

The government rejected a US proposal that would make India give up its right to carry out nuclear tests. Government spokesman Navtej Sarna said there was no place for such a provision in the proposed bilateral agreement between the two countries.

"The US had shared with India some weeks ago a preliminary draft agreement on the Indo-US civil nuclear co-operation under Article 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act," Sarna said.

Among the elements suggested by the US side was a reference to co-operation being discontinued were India to detonate a nuclear explosive device, he added.

"In preliminary discussions on these elements, India has already conveyed to the US that such a provision has no place in the proposed bilateral agreement and that India is bound only by what is contained in the 18 July joint statement, that is, continuing its commitment to a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing," the spokesman said.

India's position on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is well-known and continues to remain valid.

New Delhi maintains that it will sign the treaty only if it is universal with all countries dismantling their nuclear arsenal. The government, however, made it clear that it was committed to the unilateral moratorium on further tests.

That the US has persisted in including such a clause while negotiating the deal suggests that all the loose ends have not been tied up.

The clarification lays bare a whole new set of negotiating issues that were only alluded to by the critics of the deal.

For the first, the government has accepted that if the deal seeks to cap testing by India, it might not go through. This is an eventuality that is unforeseen as no provisions have been made for U-turns in the ongoing negotiations. India has already embarked upon a civil military separation of nuclear facilities.

There was no further explanation forthcoming from the government.

However, the clarification is the first hint of how wrong things could go for the deal.

Meanwhile, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal today said India was hopeful of the Indo-US nuclear deal being approved by the US Congress. "I interacted with several congressmen and senators. The Indo-US nuclear deal came up for discussions," Sibal, who is back from a nine-day US visit, said.