Nuke, space top Russia deals

Burns says India should have waited for the US to change law; NPT unravels, says Pakistan.

India signed a clutch of agreements with Russia for cooperation in space, nuclear technology and banking and proposed that Moscow be involved in the Iran-Pakistan-India gas and oil pipeline.

Addressing a joint press conference with visiting Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said: "We envision a substantial increase in the share of nuclear energy in India's overall energy mix. I am confident that both countries will utilise opportunities to expand our partnership in civil nuclear energy cooperation".

The US, however, opposed Russia's decision to supply uranium to India and said, the "proper way" was to wait for the US to change its laws.

"We think the proper sequencing would be that if India needs nuclear fuel for its reactors at Tarapur... the proper way to do this would be to have the US Congress act and hopefully change our laws, have the NSG, more particularly, act and change its practices, and then countries""the US, France, Russia""would be free to engage, in civil nuclear trade with India," US Under Secretary of Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said on Thursday.

He was briefing reporters shortly after the administration introduced a Bill in the US Congress seeking amendment to the Atomic Energy Act to help implement the nuclear cooperation deal with India.

Acknowledging India's energy needs, Burns said, "For an economy growing at 8-9% a year, a billion people in the country, rapidly expanding infrastructure, they need energy".

India, meanwhile, signed several deals with Russia in other spheres as well. An agreement between the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Federal Space Agency to facilitate launching of GLONASS-M type of satellites of Russia using the Indian Geo Synchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and jointly develop navigation satellites was signed.

In addition Indian Oil Corporation and joint stock company Stroytransgaz of the Russian Federation will cooperate through a consortium on a number of petro-infrastructure projects worldwide.

An agreement was signed between Vneshtorg Bank of Russian Federation and EXIM Bank of India on opening of a new credit line and for cooperation between ICICI Bank and the Vnesheconom Bank of the Russian Federation.

The PM proposed that the Iran, Pakistan-India oil pipeline project could also involve Russia, which had a "great deal of experience in constructing pipelines".

Fradkov said cooperation between India and Russia in energy was "evolving" and that Moscow would consider involvement in the pipeline project.

In Washington, Burns warned that if the Indo-US deal did not go through Congress""adding that intensive efforts were on to ensure it did""it would be impossible to re-assemble.

Meanwhile, Pakistan on Thursday night said that a civil nuclear deal between the US and India would bring about the collapse of international agreements to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

Khurshid Kasuri, Pakistan's foreign minister, said in an interview with the Financial Times: "The whole Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will unravel. It's only a matter of time before other countries will act in the same way."