No interference allowed in India's strategic prog

New Delhi, Dec 12: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today informed the Lok Sabha that the government had taken note of ''certain extraneous and prescriptive provisions in the (US) legislation'' on the Indo-US nuclear deal and assured the House that India would brook no external scrutiny of its strategic programme.

''We will not allow external scrutiny of or interference with the strategic programme,'' Mr Mukherjee said in a statement that comes in the wake of Left parties' call for scrapping the Indo-US nuclear deal in the light of what they said were the unacceptable provisions of the US legislation.

He said the government had always maintained that the conduct of foreign policy determined solely by India's national interests ''is our sovereign right. We have also been clear that our strategic programme remains outside the purview of these discussions'' aimed at establishing nuclear cooperation.''

The Minister said the US Administration had categorically assured India that this legislation enabled the US to fulfill all of the commitments it made to India in the July 18 and March 2 Joint Statements and that this legislation ''explicitly authorizes civil nuclear cooperation with India in a manner fully consistent with those two statements.

''We fully expect the July 18 Statement and the March 2 Separation Plan to be reflected in the text of the 123 agreement'' that would be concluded with the US for bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear energy, Mr Mukherjee said.

He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had already stated in Parliament on August 17, 2006 the government's position, explaining the principles and concerns that would guide India's approach to the nuclear understanding.

''These principles and concerns continue to remain the basis for our engagement with the United States and the international community on the tasks ahead,'' he said.

Mr Mukherjee said the reconciled Bill passed by the US House of Representatives and the Senate on December 8/9, 2006 was an enabling measure that would now allow US negotiators to discuss and conclude with India the 123 Agreement. Such an agreement was a pre-requisite for nuclear cooperation and trade with the US. In parallel, India was engaging the International Atomic Energy Agency with the intention of negotiating and concluding an India-specific Safeguards Agreement and an Additional Protocol.

At a broader level, the government was also discussing with member states of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) the need for an adjustment of their guidelines to permit transfers to India.

''We have briefed them collectively on various issues of mutual interest and look forward to their taking a decision on the adjustment of NSG guidelines at an appropriate time.

''We should bear in mind that while every stage of this process is important, the test of this process is for India to secure full civil nuclear cooperation with the international community while protecting our strategic programme and maintaining the integrity of our three-stage nuclear programme and indigenous R and D,'' he said.

The Minister said the US Administration committed in the July 18 Joint Statement to adjust its laws that otherwise prohibited civil nuclear energy cooperation with India. Although the passage of any legislation was an internal matter of that country on which India would not otherwise comment, this legislation was an enabling measure.

''Keeping that in mind, the enactment of waivers from certain provisions of the US Atomic Energy Act, which allows the US to cooperate with India in civilian nuclear energy despite ''our not accepting full scope safeguards and despite maintaining a strategic programme, is significant.'' The Minister said civil nuclear cooperation with the international community was necessary to raise power generation from such sources from 3 per cent of energy mix at present to 30,000 MWe by 2022 and 63,000 MWe by 2032.

Leader of Opposition L K Advani (BJP) and Mr Basudev Acharia (CPI-M) sought to raise some objection, upon which Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said the House would have a structured debate on the issue later and clarifications could be raised then.

UNI

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