India rejects amendments to nuclear deal

India Thursday rejected suggestions by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that New Delhi accept "amendments" to the civil nuclear agreement and asserted that it will strictly go by the July 18 joint statement agreed upon between the two countries last year.

"The government of India's position remains that our commitments are those that are outlined in the joint statement of July 18, 2005," Indo-Asian News Service quoted Indian external affairs ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna as saying.

He was responding to media reports that quote Rice telling Indian parliamentarians visiting the US that India should "be ready for some amendments" to the nuclear deal.

Last month India had rejected a U.S. condition that it will terminate nuclear cooperation if New Delhi tested a nuclear device. The clause was included in a U.S. draft agreement on civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries.

New Delhi underlined that it had already announced a voluntary moratorium on nuclear tests.

India and the U.S. reached a deal on civil nuclear cooperation during a visit by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington last July. The deal on separating India's civilian and military facilities was clinched when U.S. President George Bush visited Delhi in March.

As the two countries negotiate a bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement and the debate on Capitol Hill becomes more intense, the Bush administration stressed on an early passage of the bill through Congress for amending the Atomic Energy Act 1954 in favor of nuclear commerce with India.

Some Congressmen have been insisting on imposing extra conditions to the nuclear deal, but New Delhi has made it clear that such attempts would end up killing the deal.

Source: Xinhua