'N-deal 'fully consistent' with India's interests'

NEW DELHI: Insisting that the civil nuclear agreement with the US is "fully consistent" with India's interests, Government on Monday said the pact has "interlocking provisions" which ensure uninterrupted fuel supplies and right to reprocess besides "corrective measures" if warranted.

Making a statement in the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India will undertake the civil nuclear cooperation with the US and any other country on the basis of bilateral agreements only and that the government has "no doubt" that Washington will fulfil its "commitments and obligations" specified in the agreement.

He also underlined that the nuclear deal with the US, France or the Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA entail no hindrance to India's strategic programme and "we retain the freedom to take action with regard to our strategic programme even as we engage in international cooperation in civil nuclear energy."

Mukherjee made the statement on the developments related to 'India's civil nuclear energy initiative' even as CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia raised the issue of alleged breach of privilege by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue.

Seeking to allay concerns, including whether India would be able to maintain the independence of its foreign policy, Mukherjee said "our foreign policy will be determined at all times by our own assessment of our national interest."

He insisted that "this initiative in no way constrains our ability to pursue an independent foreign policy. It does not in any way affect our strategic autonomy. In fact, it does the opposite by increasing our foreign policy options."

Mukherjee informed the House that after concluding civil nuclear agreements with the US and France, India hopes to finalise such a pact with Russia during the upcoming visit of President Dmitry Medvedev.

The External Affairs Minister said the NSG decision to open up the possibility for India to engage in civil nuclear cooperation with other countries actually enhances the country's choices to engage as an equal partner with the international community.

"I can say emphatically that this initiative creates more space for us to pursue a foreign policy which serves our national interest," he said.

He said the IAEA agreement and the NSG approval provide India a "passport" to engage in civil nuclear cooperation with international partners. "We are now in the process of getting visas by engaging with our international partners to negotiate and finalise bilateral cooperation agreements."

Emphasising that the agreements with the US and France and the one to be signed with Russia "represent a careful balance of rights and obligations," he said "cooperation with our international partners will be carried out on the basis of the terms and provisions" of these pacts.

He said these agreements provide cooperation in various aspects of nuclear fuel cycle, including fuel supply assurances "which are the basis of our civil nuclear initiative as well as our right to build our strategic fuel reserves, to ensure the uninterrupted operation of our civil nuclear reactors under IAEA safeguards."

"These agreements and the India-specific safeguards agreement also provide for India to take corrective measures if necessary," Mukherjee said, adding "these are interlocking provisions which protect our rights fully".

The minister, who tabled the statement amid din, said that in the agreements, India has the right to reprocess spent nuclear material that would be obtained from foreign partners.

For this, India will be setting up a new national reprocessing facility and taking other steps necessary to operationalise these agreements and realise the full potential of the civil nuclear initiative, he said.

"When the enabling bilateral cooperation agreements are brought into force, they will provide the legal framework to negotiate and finalise commercial arrangements to source nuclear fuel for our strategic fuel reserve as well as other nuclear equipment and technologies covering the nuclear fuel cycle," Mukherjee said.

"We will honour our commitments and implement these agreements in good faith and in accordance with the principles of international law and have no doubt that our partners will similarly discharge their commitments and obligations," he said.

"All these agreements are fully consistent with India's national interest, with the assurances that the Prime Minister had given to Parliament and that the government has made to the people of India," Mukherjee maintained.

He said in achieving the agreements, the government has ensured that these only relate to cooperation in civilian nuclear energy and that the country's strategic programme and indigenous research are not affected.

The bilateral cooperation agreements signed with the US and France as well as the IAEA Safeguards Agreement "include specific provisions which ensure that there will be no hindrance to our strategic programme and that we retain the freedom to take action with regard to our strategic programme even as we engage in international cooperation in civil nuclear energy," Mukherjee said.

Describing it as a "historic initiative", he said it will help the country achieve its development objectives by substantially increasing the potential of clean power generation.

"These developments are the beginning of a new chapter for India -- of engagement as equal partners in civil nuclear energy cooperation with other countries. As we move forward, it will help us expand high technology trade with technologically-advanced countries," he said.