No condition beyond July agreement, US assures India

However, a clause in the first draft of the bilateral agreement on civil nuclear cooperation contained a condition that all cooperation will end in case India were to explode a nuclear device. This was seen by the BJP as a way to push the CTBT through the backdoor.

While today’s statement does not address this issue specifically, it does make the point that Washington ‘‘understands that India will continue to maintain a strategic programme’’. Further, it says the US believes that the ‘‘majority of the future growth’’ will be on the civilian side. This clearly indicates Washington’s acceptance of the fact that New Delhi could continue to add reactors for strategic purposes, but these would be smaller in number to the ones added to the civilian programme.

Sources also pointed out that the text of the agreement was only the first draft and this would undergo changes in the negotiations. What would be more acceptable to India is an acknowledgement of the fact that India has placed a voluntary moratorium on testing after Pokhran-II, a decision taken by the NDA government.

India has already conveyed to the US that it cannot sign an agreement that will place a commitment against testing. In any case, the legislation tabled by the Bush Administration before the Congress does put this condition which means that, if passed, the new law will automatically require stopping all cooperation if India tests.

The other concern of New Delhi was the clause in the NSG draft that says while seeking an exemption for India from full-scope safeguards, the US along with NSG countries will strive to achieve this objective in the future.

‘‘The separation of India’s nuclear programme, the declaration of its civilian facilities and the placement of those facilities under IAEA safeguards would help ensure that nuclear material, equipment and technologies supplied by NSG members were exclusively applied to the civil sector’’, the embassy said, adding that all NSG members were signatories to the NPT. ‘‘We do not recognise India as a Nuclear Weapons State.’’