Won146;t affect R038;D, VP assured

In a communiqueacute; sent two days before the Indo-US nuclear deal was signed, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured former PM V P Singh that the deal will have no 8220;negative impact on research and development in the nuclear field8221;.

Allaying the concerns expressed by V P Singh, who had earlier supported the Indo-US nuke deal, the PM said the deal would create no 8220;hindrance to the autonomous three-stage development of our nuclear programme which includes the use of our vast thorium resources8221;. Singh, in his letter to the PM on February 17, had reminded the PM about the experience in Tarapur where the US had unilaterally stopped supplying fuel and argued that India should develop indigenous capabilities keeping its abundant thorium reserves in mind.

The PM wrote that 8220;in undertaking the negotiations, the government has been fully conscious of the imperative need that nothing should be done that can harm our national security interests or cast a shadow on the requirements of our Minimum Credible Nuclear Deterrent8221;.

V P Singh wrote: 8220;We are not aware of the government having made any efforts to consult senior scientists and engineers with nuclear expertise8230;8221; he had noted.

The PM replied, 8220;The government is committed to undertaking the broadest possible consultations, and has taken on board the views of the Department of Atomic Energy and the Atomic Energy Commission8221;. However, the deal had been inked by the time the PM8217;s letter emerged.