NEW DELHI, April 18 (UPI) -- India has said it is against the inclusion of any provision in the Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear agreement that would prevent India from conducting nuclear tests.
The Hindu newspaper said Tuesday that India has told the United States it will not accept any provision stating that nuclear cooperation between the two countries would be discontinued if New Delhi were to conduct a nuclear test.
Responding to media reports, Indian foreign office spokesman Navtej Sarna confirmed that a draft agreement provided by the United States contained such a provision.
"In preliminary discussions on these elements, India has already conveyed to the United States that such a provision has no place in the bilateral agreement and that India is bound only by what is contained in the July 18, 2005 joint statement, that is, continuing its commitment to a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing," Sarna said.
"India's position on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is well-known and continues to be valid," Sarna said. India has refused to sign the CBTB, which was crippled when the U.S. Senate failed to ratify it.
India's position is that it is bound only by its existing voluntary moratorium.
Some weeks ago, Sarna said, the United States showed India a preliminary draft agreement on Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear cooperation under Article 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act.
Because of existing clauses in the U.S. Atomic Energy and Arms Export Acts, Washington inserted a clause in the draft that would end bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation if India were to detonate a nuclear explosive device, even in a controlled test scenario.
