Wednesday, March 15 2006 11:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Indicating its reservation to Russia's move to supply fuel for Tarapur nuclear reactor, the US has said that any such step should be taken after India fulfils its obligations under the historic Indo-US nuclear deal.

"We recognise that they (India) have need for fuel. And we think that deals to supply that fuel should move forward on the basis of a joint initiative, on the basis of steps that India will take that it has not yet taken," US State Department acting spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters here referring to Indo-US nuclear deal.

He was asked about the supply of nuclear fuel to India by Russia and if Washington had the details.

"Well, I'm not going to, I'm not in a position to go into the deal. I don't have the details. I haven't seen any sort of official statements of the deal. President (George W) Bush has been very outspoken and I think visionary in trying to develop a framework within the international system to ensure the safe and secure supply of nuclear fuel through the Nuclear Suppliers Group" Ereli said.

"And specifically with regard to India we have a very forward-looking and really history-making initiative, joint initiative, to address the India's nuclear program, to separate the military from the civilian, and to bring India into compliance with NPT obligations and work based on that with a Nuclear Suppliers Group to give it access to the kind of fuel supplies that it's looking for," he said.

Asked pointedly if he was aware if Russia had informed of the supply of fuel to India, Ereli said, "No, I don't, I'm not aware of that".

Russia has agreed to supply the urgently-needed uranium for Tarapur nuclear plant and a deal involving 60 tonnes of the fuel is likely to be signed during the two-day visit of Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov here beginning tomorrow(Mar 16,2006).

The Russian decision to supply 'limited quantity' of uranium fuel for the 'safeguarded units' I and II of Tarapur atomic plant comes following an Indian request, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna had said in New Delhi yesterday.

He said the supply will "Enable the plant to continue to operate in safety and provide much-needed electricity to the Western Power grid of the country."

Although he did not give the quantity of the fuel,highly-placed government sources in Moscow said that the deal involved 60 tonnes of nuclear fuel for Tarapur reactor.

The United States and other key members of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) have been informed by Moscow in advance about the deal, the sources said.

While critics in the US saw the move as further erosion of international rules governing nuclear proliferation, Russian sources said that like 2001, when Moscow last supplied58 metric tonnes of fuel for Tarapur, this supply would begoverned by safety guidelines within NSG.