By IANS
New Delhi : India Friday said the "historic" 123 agreement it concluded with the US last week was a "very good deal" that would enable full civilian nuclear cooperation between the two countries without impacting its strategic interests or its indigenous three-stage energy programme.
The 123 pact managed to resolve the issue of nuclear testing by allowing India to retain its voluntary moratorium and by avoiding any reference to testing or detention in the text of the agreement, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan told reporters here while announcing the conclusion of the 123 bilateral civil nuclear pact between the two countries.
The path-breaking 123 agreement – so called because it is about section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act – that took two years of tortuous negotiations and was often delayed over contentious issues will pave the way for resumption of global civil nuclear cooperation with India after a gap of three decades.
The pact, which will be the sole legal document governing nuclear commerce between the two countries, has to be first approved by the US Congress by an up and down vote before it becomes legally operative.
India's Cabinet Committee on Security and Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs approved the pact earlier this week. All the details are expected to be publicly available next week, and the agreement is likely to be discussed in the forthcoming monsoon session of parliament.
The deal, which is finding greater international acceptance and reflects increasing recognition of India's growing weight in the international stage, has already struck a chord with leading Nuclear Suppliers Group countries.
Australia has already indicated that it will consider selling uranium to India after the 123 pact is approved by the US Congress.
India will press for "unconditional exemption" from the Nuclear Suppliers Group which has to approve the nuclear deal before the world opens the doors of nuclear commerce with India.
The agreement also addresses India's principal demands of uninterrupted fuel supplies for its imported reactors and prior consent to reprocess spent fuel in a safeguarded facility.
"The commitments expressed in the joint statements of July 18, 2005 and March 2, 2006 have been fully reflected in the final text of the bilateral cooperation agreement," Narayanan said while reminding everyone that the pact fulfilled "the terms outlined by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Parliament on August 17 last year.
"We are happy to inform you that the governments of India and the US have finalised the text of the bilateral agreement for cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy," he said while stressing that the deal was "a significant milestone" in transforming relations between the two countries.
"The conclusion of negotiations on this agreement marks a major step forward in fulfilling the promise of full civil nuclear cooperation as envisioned by President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," said a joint statement by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, which was read out by Narayanan.
"Civil nuclear cooperation between the US and India will offer enormous strategic and economic benefits to both countries, including enhanced energy security, a more environmentally friendly energy source, greater economic opportunities, and more robust non-proliferation efforts," they said.
"We have got a very good deal which should meet legal requirements of both countries," Narayanan said. "There is something better one can always do. The deal is not the best, but is a very good one", he said in the same breath.
"This deal is about civilian nuclear cooperation. There is no reference to testing or no testing. We will come to that when it happens," Narayanan told reporters when asked about the fate of the nuclear cooperation in the event of India conducting a nuclear test.
According to the US Atomic Energy Act, any testing by any country will entail the suspension of all civilian nuclear cooperation.
The agreement is between two states possessing advanced nuclear technologies, both parties having the same benefits and advantages, Narayanan stressed.
"We have not mortgaged any right. If anything, we have enhanced our rights," Narayanan asserted when asked whether the 123 act had mortgaged India's right to conduct a nuclear test.
The 123 pact was fully consistent with uninterrupted fuel supplies, as envisaged in the March 2, 2006 joint statement, he stressed.
"We are fully satisfied. It allows us to carry on with the three-stage programme as well as civil nuclear programme with international assistance," said Anil Kakodkar, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, who along with Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and Narayanan briefed reporters at a joint press interaction.
Narayanan, Menon and Kakodkar were the three principal negotiators who helped clinch the 123 civil nuclear cooperation agreement with the US after marathon rounds of negotiations in Washington last week.
Alluding to the provision of India setting up a dedicated facility for reprocessing spent fuel that led to a breakthrough in nuclear negotiations, Kakodkar said that this would allow India full "benefits from reactors as well as associated nuclear fuel cycle."
He, however, sounded evasive when asked whether the 123 pact allowed the transfer of technologies relating to reprocessing, enrichment and heavy water reprocessing, which is forbidden by the US law.
"The three-stage programme is quite independent of the civilian nuclear cooperation programme. There won't be interference of one in the other," Kakodkar said, while describing the deal as "satisfactory."
The three key negotiators also stressed that there were no hidden strings attached to the deal. "There are no conditionalities. It is about nuclear energy. We were not negotiating anything else," said Menon.
Narayanan also sought to dispel the impression among some western critics of the deal who fear the deal will free up fuel reserves and help India to enhance its nuclear arsenal.
"We are not using it as an excuse to enhance our fissile material capabilities. It is time that certain countries overcame the belief that we are interested in proliferation," said Narayanan.
The opposition parties appeared to be more than satisfied with the 123 pact, Narayanan said, when asked about his assessment of the reactions of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left parties who have already been briefed on the 123 pact by the prime minister.