Congress justifies government's IAEA stand

NEW DELHI: The ruling Congress on Thursday justified the government approaching the IAEA Board of Governors for finalizing the India-specific safeguards pact, saying there was no breach of trust but was just following the procedures with the UN nuclear watchdog.

"It is wrong to interpret the request for convening the meeting of the Board of Governors of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) as going to IAEA," Congress General Secretary M Veerappa Moily told reporters here.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition government came under severe criticism from the opposition as well as its estranged Left allies for going to the IAEA Wednesday evening without proving its majority in the Lok Sabha, a day after External Affairs Minsiter Pranab Mukherjee announced that the government would first face a floor test.

Moily asserted that the government would keep its word. "We will go for a trust vote and then go to the IAEA."

The party leader also explained the government's move to make public the text of the India safeguards pact was part of the procedure.

"After the text of the IAEA was circulated to the members of the Board of Governors of IAEA, it no more remained restricted. The government took prompt action to place the document on its website," Moily argued.