NEW DELHI, May 4: India on Thursday ruled out accepting any changes by the United States to a nuclear deal amid reports that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had raised the possibility of amendments in the text of the agreement the two countries had reached in March after signing the deal in July last year.
“I have seen the press reports (quoting Ms Rice). The government of India’s position remains that our commitments are those that are outlined in the joint statement of July 18, 2005,” Indian foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna was quoted by Press Trust of India as saying.
He was responding to a question about Ms Rice telling a delegation of Indian MPs in Washington that India must be prepared to accept ‘amendments’ to the agreement reaffirmed between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush on March 2 here.
“She did not say basic but that India should be prepared, should be ready for some amendments which will be within the framework...But it depends how Congress interprets,” Rajya Sabha MP Shahid Siddique, a member of the delegation, quoted Ms Rice as saying. “...The message was that there are going to be amendments and we should be ready for it...,” he said.
The agreement, now being debated in the US Congress, could end a 32-year-old ban on trade with India in nuclear technology and fuel. The key point is that India has committed itself to a voluntary moratorium on future nuclear testing. The US wants to formally identify the moratorium as a key condition to go ahead with the deal.
Other reports on Thursday said that the Nuclear Suppliers Group is divided over extending support to the Bush administration’s civilian nuclear deal with India.
“I have not counted the numbers, but it is a big group of countries that have expressed concerns, (about lending support to the deal),” the Chairman of the US-backed 45-nation NSG, Roald Naess, said in an interview.
