India envoy warns on changes to US nuclear deal
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-11-23 09:05

Any moves by the U.S. Congress to alter a landmark U.S.-India nuclear agreement could undermine the "finely balanced" deal, according to Indian ambassador to Washington Ronen Sen.

The agreement would grant India access to nuclear technology it has been denied for more than two decades because it developed nuclear weapons and tested them.

But prominent American critics complain it undermines nonproliferation and should be tightened up. The deal has also come under fire in India.

"It there's any loading on of what are seen to be additional obligations or changes, it could cause a sort of imbalance, which would undermine the very basis of the agreement (which is) finely balanced in terms of reciprocal obligations and benefits," he said in an interview with Reuters late on Monday,

Sen indicated that New Delhi had not progressed very far in its centerpiece commitment under the July 18 agreement -- separation of India's military and civilian nuclear facilities to ensure that U.S. nuclear cooperation with the civilian energy sector does not also benefit India's weapons program.

But the envoy was adamant that his government could be counted on to fulfill its commitments.

"Since independence we have never ever violated an agreement ... We proceed with due deliberation and when we undertake a commitment we keep to that commitment," he said.

Sen said India's needs over the next 25 years could total $80 billion as it seeks to expand an indigenous nuclear energy industry its leaders believe is crucial to economic growth.

U.S. companies, including General Electric Co. and Westinghouse Electric, a unit of a British state-owned company, are expected to be among the beneficiaries.

Although a number of congressmen have questioned the nuclear deal, it is unclear if they will seek to amend it.

"I don't know if there will be modifications. Much will depend on the separation plan" that India proposes, a congressional aide who works on the issue but was not authorized to speak for the record told Reuters.

SEPARATION PLAN

Congress is not expected to formally take action until 2006. U.S. officials have said they would not ask Congress to act until after India proposes its separation plan.

Under the plan, India would designate which of its nuclear facilities are military posts dedicated to nuclear weapons-related activities and which are civilian, engaged in peaceful energy production.

The civilian plants would for the first time come under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards and be open to inspection by IAEA inspectors.

Asked if India had started work on the separation plan, Sen said: "It's very complicated. It's not that easy. We have to work it out. We are going to work it out ... It's going to be in phases."

Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns, the U.S. negotiator on the nuclear deal, in September presented Indian officials with a blueprint suggesting how the Americans might go about separating the Indian nuclear facilities.

But the Indians gave it back, saying they could do it themselves, a U.S. official and a source close to the administration said.

"It's not supposed to be a joint determination. We know what it is and will proceed in terms of our own interest," Sen said.