New Delhi
24 April 2006
Clarifying its position on the proposed India-United States civilian
nuclear deal, Washington on Monday said it understands that India will continue to
maintain its strategic programme but believed that majority of future growth will be on
the civilian side.
The US Embassy in a statement also said that Washington believed that India will not
join Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapon state. The
statement came in the wake of reports that Washington was reneging on the nuclear pact
reached last year and on India's plan to separate its military and civilian nuclear
facilities firmed up during the visit of President George Bush last month.
"We do not recognize India as a nuclear weapon state, and do not seek to amend or
renegotiate the NPT. We understand, however, that India will not join the NPT as a non-
nuclear weapon state .... We understand that India will continue to maintain its strategic
programme, although we believe the majority of future growth will be on the civilian
side," it read.
The statement said the effort by the US to seek an exemption for India from the full-scope
safeguards requirement of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) guidelines and amend US
laws would, once successful, allow India to benefit from international cooperation in the
civil nuclear sector.
"The separation of India's nuclear programme, the declaration of its civilian facilities and
the placement of those facilities under IAEA safeguards would help ensure that nuclear
material, equipment and technologies supplied by NSG members were exclusively
applied to the civil sector.
"This assurance is consistent with the obligations undertaken by states party to the
treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). All NSG members are parties
to the NPT," it observed.
The statement also said the July 18, 2005 and the March 2, 2006 joint statements
recognise India's strong record regarding nuclear technology exports and its public
commitments to work within the global non-proliferation regime to prevent the spread of
nuclear weapons and the technology that supports the development of those weapons.
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