New Delhi: Setback for the Indo-US nuclear deal. India has rejected a proposal of US where it says if India conducts nuclear test the deal will be revoked.
Rejecting the US proposal that would make India give up its right to carry out nuclear tests, India said that there was no place for such a provision in the proposed bilateral agreement between the two countries.
"The US had shared with India some weeks ago a preliminary draft agreement on Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation under Article 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said.
He said among the elements suggested by the US side is a reference to cooperation being discontinued were India to detonate a nuclear explosive device.
"In Preliminary discussions on these elements, India has already conveyed to the US that such a provision has no place in the proposed bilateral agreement and that India is bound only by what is contained in the July 18 joint statement, that is, continuing its commitment to a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing," the spokesman said.
India's position on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is well-known and continues to remain valid. New Delhi maintains that it will sign the treaty only if it is universal with all countries dismantling their nuclear arsenal.
With Agency inputs
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