Nuke talks on; Arunachal integral part of India: Pranab

New Delhi, Mar 3 (UNI) External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today reaffirmed the need for going ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal and clarified that New Delhi had ''clearly conveyed'' to China that Arunachal Pradesh was an integral part of India.

Making a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha on foreign-policy related developments during the inter-session period, Mr Mukherjee said the deal was necessary to end the three-decade-long isolation of India from the international nuclear trade.

The UPA government would continue to seek a broad political consensus within the country to take forward the nuclear issue, he said.

Negotiations were on with the International Atomic Energy Agency to arrive at an agreed text of an India-specific safeguards agreement to operationalise the Indo-US nuclear deal and have similar cooperation with other countries, he said.

''The conclusion of such an agreement will enable the Nuclear Suppliers Group to amend its guidelines for civil nuclear commerce in favour of India.

''This will open the door to civil nuclear cooperation with various countries, including Russia, USA, France, UK etc with many of whom the necessary enabling bilateral agreements for such trade have been discussed and are in various stages of finalisation,'' the Minister said.

This development would signify, finally, an end to the unfair technology denial regimes and sanctions that India has been faced with for over three decades.

Allaying apprehensions over the US Hyde Act, he said this was an enabling provision that was between the excutive and the legislative organs of the US government. India's rights and obligations regarding civil nuclear cooperation with the US would arise only from the bilateral 123 Agreement that ''we have agreed upon with the US.'' MORE UNI SN MIR KP1306