Dedicated safeguarded facility not possible: Pranab

By Staff
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New Delhi, June 10 (UNI) Asserting that the Indo-US nuclear deal has to be India specific, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said it will not be possible to set up a dedicated safeguarded facility for reprocessing spent fuel as done by other countries.

In an interview to CNN-IBN, to be telecast tonight, Mr Mukherjee ruled out the possibility of accepting reprocessing rights on the same conditions as America had granted to Japan, Switzerland and Euratom.

''There are certain issues which we shall have to keep in mind.

For instance, India is a non-signatory to NPT. Others-- Japan, Switzerland and Euratom-- are signatories to NPT. Therefore, this arrangement will have to be India specific,'' he said in the programme, Devil's Advocate.

Things seem to have moved forward since Mr Mukherjee gave the interview, with India reportedly offering to set up dedicated safeguarded facility for reprocessing spent fuel in an effort to break the impasse over the proposed 123 Agreement, necessary to make the nuclear deal operational.

The offer was reportedly made during the meeting between National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and his US counterpart Stephen Hadley in Berlin on the sidelines of the G 8 Summit on Friday.

As the details of the offer are not available, it is difficult to say whether India has accepted the conditions granted to Japan, Switzerland and Euratom.

Mr Mukherjee has also ruled out the possiblity of accepting reprocessing rights on the same terms and conditions as granted to China, whereif permission is not given within six months, Beijing acquires an automatic interim right of reprocessing.

''You are making a comparision between the non-comparables. China is already a nuclear weapon state.... It will have to be India specific in the context of the fact that India is a non-signatory to NPT,'' he said, pointing out that India had certain demands different from other countries'.

He emphasised that reprocessing was absolutely necessary for India as ''we do not want the situation like the repetition of Tarapur''.

''They say they (America) have some problems. We say do not transfer your problems to us. What has been agreed to in the joint statement of July 2005 and subsequently in March 2006 and what's in our commitment to Parliament-- they are already aware of it-- therefore within these parameters this 123 Agreement has to be signed,'' he said.

Asked whether he was disappointed with the outcome of the recent talks between Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and US Under Secretary of State Nicolas Burns, Mr Mukherjee sidestepped the issue, saying: ''There is no question of disappointment. We are still engaged in a negotiation.... Both countries are trying their best. I do not doubt their sincerity.'' He expressed the hope that India would be able to sign a satisfactory 123 Agreement, but said the Indo-US relations would not suffer a setback if the deal fell through for some reason.

''I don't think it will have any adverse impact on the India-US relationship because the relationship is growing.... This is an important landmark in our bilateral relationship, no doubt, and we do hope we will reach the successful conclusion of the present series of negotations. Therefore I am not looking at that (the deal falling through) at all.'' he said.

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