The Hindu Business Line : Nuclear deal: PM firm on `acceptable basis'

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Thursday said that his Government would not agree to any legislation by the US that went beyond the July 18, 2005 joint statement and the March 2, 2006 civilian-military nuclear facility separation plan drawn up by the two countries.

In a marathon one-and-a-half-hour-long reply to the debate on the Indo-US nuclear deal in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Dr Singh asserted that no legislation made in a foreign land can take away "our sovereign right" and "our foreign policy is determined strongly by our national interest".

While noting that the final shape of the US law would only be known after its Senate had voted and reconciled its position with that of the Congress, the Prime Minister maintained that the July 2005 statement and the March 2006 separation plan would be the sole "acceptable basis" for nuclear co-operation with the US.

In the event of any "extraneous" conditionality in the US legislation, the Government, he asserted, would "draw its own conclusion" if it was not in conformity with the assurance made to Parliament. Stating that he had made it clear to the US that India's strategic nuclear programme is totally outside the purview of the July 18 statement, Dr Singh said, "There is no question of American Inspectors roaming around our nuclear facilities." Besides, there will be no external supervision of our research and development work, he added.

The Prime Minister assured the House that he would hold discussions with the Atomic Energy Commission as well as the distinguished nuclear scientists who had expressed concern over the alleged deviations in the US legislation being debated. These discussions would help in evolving a broad-based national consensus to enable the country to make "its own assessment" of its nuclear programme.

Dr Singh was optimistic that the Indo-US nuclear deal in its July 2005 form would help the country to widen its energy options, which was necessary in order to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

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