Dismissing suggestions that the Indo-US civilian nuclear accord was in trouble, the Bush administration said that though it was ready to show some flexibility to accommodate the views of Congress members, it was not prepared to impose new conditions or introduce fresh legislations at this point.“We certainly accept the views of Congress on different issues but we are also going to make clear that we cannot do things—legislations or conditions—at this point that will break the deal,’’ Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher told PTI at the US State Department.Boucher also said that while next week’s Nuclear Suppliers Group meet had a broader international agenda, the subject of the US-India nuclear agreement would figure and that it would be ‘‘helpful’’ if New Delhi was able to answer some questions, including on the status of the safeguards agreement and the separation plan.Meanwhile, after his meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran in London to discuss the deal, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns echoed Boucher, ‘‘I can assure you the US is not trying to impose any new issues on India.’’Burns said, ‘‘We finished our negotiations and now we are trying to implement them.’’ He admitted nuclear testing had been a part of the discussions and said both sides were aware of each other’s views. Saran, in turn, said India is committed to a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing but will not get into a legal commitment barring it from carrying out further testing. “We are not in a position to deviate from the July 18 joint statement,” he said. Asked about the clause brought by Washington in the initial draft on US ending cooperation with India if it were to test nuclear devices, Saran recalled India had already said publicly that it would not accept any such clause.
