By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : A top US official has assured lawmakers that “just as India had the sovereign right to test, the United States enjoyed the same right to respond” under their civil nuclear deal.
Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday as it met to consider how to put the India deal on fast track, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns said the administration had sent the Congress a “strong package” consistent with the US enabling law, the Hyde Act.
“We have been asked what would happen if India conducts a nuclear weapons test, and the short answer is that while India maintains a sovereign right to test, we most certainly maintain a sovereign right to respond,” he said.
“We believe the Indian government intends to uphold the continuation of the test moratorium it committed to in 2005 and reiterated in its Sep 5 statement,” said the official who negotiated the last mile at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to get India a waiver for nuclear trade.
The Sep 6 NSG waiver for India came after Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s statement reiterating India’s intention to continue its voluntary unilateral moratorium announced by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee after India’s 1998 nuclear tests.
“We also believe India will uphold its safeguards agreement with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). But Secretary Rice has noted clearly that we reserve the right to take appropriate action should India nonetheless resume nuclear testing and, as she told Congress in April 2006,” Burns said.
“We’ve been very clear with the Indians, should India test, as it has agreed not to do, or should India in an way violate the IAEA safeguards agreements to which it would be adhering, the deal, from our point of view, would, at that point, be off,” he said.
Assuring the lawmakers that the seven Presidential determinations sent to the Congress Sep 11 for its approval were consistent with the Hyde Act, Burns said so was the NSG exception for India.
He said the US had sought an NSG exception for India that was consistent with the US law as well as capable of commanding a consensus within the group.