NEW DELHI, 14 September 2006 — United States Ambassador to India David C. Mulford yesterday asserted that Washington would honor the agreement reached with New Delhi on civilian nuclear cooperation. “The goalposts are not being moved. The civilian nuclear agreement when finally implemented will mark a new level of trust and cooperation in our partnership,” Mulford said.
“We will honor the agreement that has been reached,” he said while addressing the third Indo-US economic summit.
Mulford also observed that the “pause” in India’s economic reform process could prove to be economically costly. “There are signs of a pause in the reforms process in recent months,” Mulford said. These signs include a stop in privatizations and reforms in key sectors and policies of central interest taking longer than envisaged, Mulford said. Voicing his concern over this “pause,” Mulford said that there could be “serious economic costs to any loss of momentum on the reform front.”
Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee, however, pointed out: “The reforms were a continuous process. There could be minor hitches in the process of reforms but as you know, democracy is about checks and balances.”
Mukherjee, who was the chief guest, pointed out: “Decisions can be taken only after debate and due consideration. Hasty decision-making can have its own negative repercussions.”
Meanwhile, experts in India and US have pointed out that the deal was facing certain hurdles.
Atomic Energy Commission Chairman and Secretary in Department of Atomic Energy, Anil Kakodkar said yesterday that India should not “bother” if the deal does not come through.
“I have only told you what the Indian position is. If within that... there is an agreement, it will come very soon. If the deal doesn’t come through, don’t bother. Indian program is going on.”
He made these points while speaking to reporters after inaugurating the “Emergency Response Center” at Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research in Bangalore.
Emphasizing that the agreement should be looked from Indian point, Kakodkar said: “Our interest is that we should be able to carry forward our own programs...The domestic research and development programs because we should be able to open up three-stage nuclear program to its full potential. We should be able to carry out our strategic program.”
In Washington, a group of non-proliferation experts are putting pressure on lawmakers to ensure that New Delhi will not pursue nuclear weapons program once the agreement gets through. In a letter to senators titled, “Fix the Nuclear Cooperation Deal with India,” 16 activists have recommended addition of a determination that US would not in any way encourage or assist India’s nuclear weapons program.
