New Delhi: The Centre on Friday tried to hardsell the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement to the political setup in particular and the nation as a whole, saying it will open the way for bilateral cooperation between India and US.
Briefing journalists on the nuclear deal, National Security Adviser MK Narayanan, however, admitted that the "deal is not the best, but is a very good one." In the same breath, he claimed that "India has retained its right to test."
The government fielded the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, Anil Kakodkar; Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and National Security Adviser MK Narayanan at a briefing on the nuclear deal.
Narayanan said the Indo-US bilateral agreement on nuclear deal fulfills the terms outlined by Prime Minister in Parliament on August 17.He said there was no reference in the agreement to the nuclear tests carried out by India in 1998. "It refers to only civil nuclear cooperation."
Asked what he felt were the shortcomings of the agreement, Narayanan said India would have liked to get reprocessing and enrichment technologies.
"India is not a proliferator," he said. The NSA clarified that the agreement "does not interfere with India's breeder programme in any manner." He also claimed that the text fully reflects fuel supply assurances. "The text will be made available soon," he said.
Asked if the fighter aircraft sale issue was linked to the nuclear deal, Narayanan replied in the negative. "There was no reference to any arms deals in the five days we spent on finalising the agreement. The outcome would improve relationships and this would lead to other enhancements. There are no conditions attached with this agreement . This is a simple civil nuclear deal," he stated.
Menon also reiterated that there was no condition attached to the agreement. "This was an agreement on civil nuclear coopeation and we did not negotiate anything else," he said.
"There is no time limit for the completion of India-specific safeguards negotiations. But we hope the negotiations will complete soon. It has to be different and specific to the Indian conditions of the world scenario," he said.
Asked about political consensus with the UPA on the deal, Narayanan said: "We have met the Left and they have said that they would see the agreement first before reacting. But it seems they are more or less convienced. The Left parties and the NDA have indicated that they were more than satisfied with the agreement," he claimed.
Kakodkar clarified that the fuel assurances in the text of the agreement are consistent with what the US had promised earlier. "The text is excellent in the sense that there is always some scope. There is some give and take. We have got all the agreements that the PM had assured the Parliament about.
Kakodkar said he was satisfied with the deal. "The right to reprocess spent fuel and reusing it for other purposes has been agreed to in the deal, " he said. "This agreement covers full rights for fuel supply."
Menon described the agreement as a strategic milestone between India and US. "This achievement reinforces the growing relationship between the two countries," he said.
"The agreement was intended to primarily drive the civil nuclear deal. We are not using this to enhance our strategic nuclear capability. We have not mortgaged any rights. Rather we have enhanced our rights whereever possible," Menon said.
"We hope India will get unconditional exemption from Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines on fuel supplies," he said. Menon added that India is ready to work with like-minded countries.
Narayanan said India will actively seek international support for NSG approval. "The treaty gives equal benefits to India and US," he said. He hoped India will get unconditional exemption from Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines on fuel supplies. "India will now further negotiate safeguards agreement with International Atomic Energy Agency," Kakodkar said.
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