On N-deal, Saran is meeting Lugar

Another key meeting will be with Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Robert Joseph who has testified last month before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

His remarks had generated slight concern in South Block, particularly the point that Washington was not in favour of India negotiating a ‘‘voluntary offer’’ safeguards agreement with the IAEA.

This kind of agreement— voluntarily deciding on the reactors under safeguards—has been signed only by the five nuclear weapons states.

New Delhi is of the view that though it’s not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, India is a nuclear weapons state with an exceptional track record on all parameters followed by NPT members.

In fact, Saran today made it clear in Washington that the kind of controls India has introduced recently through a legislation to prevent clandestine proliferation puts it in the ‘‘NPT Plus’’ category.

Joseph had also said Washington will continue to press separately on India to take additional steps such as ‘‘acceptance of a fissile material production moratorium or cap’’. Saran will get greater clarity on these issues as it was agreed at the last meeting of the JWG that there will be no additional obligations outside what has been listed in the July 18 joint statement.

Besides this, much time is being spent in Washington on planning the agenda for the upcoming visit of US President George W Bush in March. The Foreign Secretary had detailed discussions with US National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley in this connection.

He will also have meetings with Philip Zelikow of the US Department of State who advises Condoleezza Rice and with Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Eric Edelman.

On taking matters forward on other aspects of Indo-US energy cooperation, Saran will hold discussions with David Garman, US Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

‘No change in civilian nuclear pact’

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran today ruled out changes in the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal and rejected inclusion of proposal for a moratorium on fissile material production in it. Addressing a distinguished audience at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Saran shot down the notion that there could be some “improvements” in the now agreed upon cooperative framework, suggesting these are simply non-starters. “Let us be honest, these suggestions are deal-breakers and are intended as such. The proposal for a moratorium on fissile material production was not part of this agreement and will not become so. However, in the conference of disarmament in Geneva, India has reiterated its commitment to negotiations for a multilateral and verifiable FMCT,” he added. Saran countered the suggestion that the deal constituted a “radical departure” from the NPT regime and said India’s participation into the global nuclear regime was indispensible to not only further the cause of international non-proliferation but countering proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. —PTI