145;N-deal must be within parameters decided146;

8216;8216;The understanding that we have reached between India and the US has been the result of a very painstaking and very very complex negotiations,8217;8217; Saran said in an interaction session at the Heritage Foundation after delivering a lecture there. 8216;8216;So the understanding is a rather a carefully balanced one and it is a rather delicately balanced one8230;Therefore, it stands to reason that whatever change that is contemplated should be in line with the parameters of that understanding8230;As long as that legislation is within the bounds of that understanding, I think we will have no problem.8217;8217;

Saran8217;s remarks come close on the heels of the Bush Administration8217;s view that while it welcomed suggestions from the Congress, it would not like to revisit the nuclear deal. Saran, however, said: 8216;8216;It is really a hypothetical question for the moment because I think we will have to wait and see what precisely is the legislative change that will be brought about after it has been considered by the Congress.8217;8217;

Asked about the kind of shock the broader bilateral relations would receive if the deal was not approved in the Congress, Saran said, 8216;8216;I don8217;t think it is necessary for us to already start predicting its demise. We have the sense that in Washington among the Congressmen, there is very very broad support for India-US partnership8230;yet If this does not go through, it does not mean that everything else will fall by the wayside but at the same time we should also recognise that for good reason or bad, there is an intense focus on this particular agreement8230; Whether we like it or not this has become very symbolic of what we want to do with the Indo-US relationship,8217;8217; he said.

8216;8216;And therefore, if this particular deal does not go through there is no doubt there will be, in terms of the expectations that have been created, in terms of the enthusiasm that has been created, there will be some falling back.8217;8217;

Saran dismissed the notion that the Indo-US deal had the potential to bury the disciminatory non-proliferation treaty but argued that their understanding could be some kind of a prelude to a newer international consensus on non-proliferation. 8216;8216;I don8217;t think we are in the business of being undertakers for any treaty or any agreement8230;The reason why India did not sign the NPT was because we felt while concrete commitments were being imposed on the non-nuclear weapons states, there was no such commitment of nuclear disarmament on the part of nuclear weapons states and it was rather vague.8217;8217;