‘India won’t accept changes to N-deal’
New Delhi won’t accept inclusion of nuclear testing, periodic review in NSG waiver, says MK Narayan
As India goes through the new exemption draft that the US has forwarded to the government for tabling at the next meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group on September 4, national security adviser MK Narayanan has set down the broad parameters beyond which India cannot concede.
Taking a tough stand, Narayanan said that inclusion of any clause on testing, periodic review or denial of enrichment and reprocessing technology in the text of the NSG waiver would be unacceptable to India and hoped a way around these issues would be found through “creative diplomacy”.
The fact is New Delhi is not willing to concede on anything but language and it is up to the NSG to either take it or leave it.
“What we are really asking is, there are certain issues on which there are certain red lines drawn by us because those are the commitments that had been made by our Prime Minister,” Narayanan told the journalist Karan Thapar in an interview to be aired this weekend. “On red lines we cannot. That’s what we told our parliament. These are sacrosanct and if these are not met we cannot endorse the agreement,” Narayanan said.
Considering India’s adamant stand it may be difficult for those who have strong non-proliferation lobbies back home like New Zealand, Austria, Ireland, Switzerland, Norway and Finland to say yes to the deal on September 4.
These nations feel that India is being rewarded by the Bush administration, despite the fact that New Delhi has not signed the non-proliferation treaty, and has a nuclear weapons program. The non-proliferation lobby thinks rewarding India would mean encouraging countries like Iran to do what they please.
India is unwilling to allow the use of the word ‘testing’ in the NSG document. Many of the smaller nations want all cooperation with India to stop if it were to go ahead with another test, much like what is mentioned in the Hyde act. “We have always made the point that testing is a word that we find difficult to adjust to; not because of anything else but because that is what our parliament has mandated us to do,” Narayanan said.
On demands for exclusion of enrichment and reprocessing technology in the NSG waiver, Narayanan said, as a directive from the NSG it will not be acceptable to India. While the US has a domestic law forbidding transfer of re-processed technology, other countries do not have such laws. It will be up to individual countries to decide on the issue. “NSG does not have ban on enrichment and reprocessing technology transfer per se.”
He also ruled out the possibility of accepting periodic reviews of the waiver. However, Narayan said India has no objection if some of their views are reflected in the statement of the NSG Chair “as long as it does not inhibit us from what we believe is clean and unconditional waiver.”
Source : DNA India
New Delhi won’t accept inclusion of nuclear testing, periodic review in NSG waiver, says MK Narayan
As India goes through the new exemption draft that the US has forwarded to the government for tabling at the next meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group on September 4, national security adviser MK Narayanan has set down the broad parameters beyond which India cannot concede.
Taking a tough stand, Narayanan said that inclusion of any clause on testing, periodic review or denial of enrichment and reprocessing technology in the text of the NSG waiver would be unacceptable to India and hoped a way around these issues would be found through “creative diplomacy”.
The fact is New Delhi is not willing to concede on anything but language and it is up to the NSG to either take it or leave it.
“What we are really asking is, there are certain issues on which there are certain red lines drawn by us because those are the commitments that had been made by our Prime Minister,” Narayanan told the journalist Karan Thapar in an interview to be aired this weekend. “On red lines we cannot. That’s what we told our parliament. These are sacrosanct and if these are not met we cannot endorse the agreement,” Narayanan said.
Considering India’s adamant stand it may be difficult for those who have strong non-proliferation lobbies back home like New Zealand, Austria, Ireland, Switzerland, Norway and Finland to say yes to the deal on September 4.
These nations feel that India is being rewarded by the Bush administration, despite the fact that New Delhi has not signed the non-proliferation treaty, and has a nuclear weapons program. The non-proliferation lobby thinks rewarding India would mean encouraging countries like Iran to do what they please.
India is unwilling to allow the use of the word ‘testing’ in the NSG document. Many of the smaller nations want all cooperation with India to stop if it were to go ahead with another test, much like what is mentioned in the Hyde act. “We have always made the point that testing is a word that we find difficult to adjust to; not because of anything else but because that is what our parliament has mandated us to do,” Narayanan said.
On demands for exclusion of enrichment and reprocessing technology in the NSG waiver, Narayanan said, as a directive from the NSG it will not be acceptable to India. While the US has a domestic law forbidding transfer of re-processed technology, other countries do not have such laws. It will be up to individual countries to decide on the issue. “NSG does not have ban on enrichment and reprocessing technology transfer per se.”
He also ruled out the possibility of accepting periodic reviews of the waiver. However, Narayan said India has no objection if some of their views are reflected in the statement of the NSG Chair “as long as it does not inhibit us from what we believe is clean and unconditional waiver.”
Source : DNA India