Nuclear-test cap: India rejects US rider for deal

[cosmicone]

NEW DELHI: India has said that while being firmly committed to a unilateral moratorium on further nuclear testing, it won’t accept a US proposal under the the bilateral agreement to cap its nuclear testing.

The external affairs ministry spokesperson said on Monday that India had already told the United States that this provision in the '123 agreement' currently being negotiated is not acceptable. A draft agreement sent by Washington stipulated that cooperation will be discontinued if India were 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,"MEA spokesman Navtej Sarna said.

"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."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1494277.cms