New Delhi Will Not Tolerate Changes to India-U.S. Nuclear Technology Sale Agreement

India would reject any amendments to a planned nuclear technology sharing deal with the United States that has yet to be approved by the U.S. Congress, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Dec. 7).

New Delhi views the July pact as a “binding commitment” that should proceed on the basis of “strict reciprocity,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told his parliament today.

“If the U.S. does not carry out its obligations, we are also free not to carry out our obligations,” he said.

Implementation of the agreement would be guided “fully and entirely” by the July joint statement by Singh and U.S. President George W. Bush, said Junior Foreign Minister Rao Inderjit Singh.

“It has been made very clear to the U.S. ... that our commitments and obligations would only be those that have been spelled out in the joint statement,” he said.

A second meeting of the two countries’ Nuclear Working Group is scheduled for this month in Washington, according to AFP (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Dec. 15).

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