Thursday, April 27 2006 16:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: After attacking the government over its handling of Nepal situation, former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh today (Apr 27, 2006) picked holes in the March 2 Indo-US civil nuclear deal, saying it contained elements that were absent from the joint statement issued when the deal was announced last year.

There was no mention of proliferation and arms control in the July 18, 2005 statement issued jointly by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W Bush, according to Singh who was the External Affairs Minister at that time.

The Prime Minister is required to make a statement in Parliament as the nuclear issue has been taken to political level and the country was divided over it, he told Karan Thapar in an interview for CNBC's India Tonight at 10 programme.

"I am fully confident that the Prime Minister will make a statement in Parliament, in both Houses, to clarify some of the doubts which have been raised because of the hearing (in the US Congress)," he said.

"He (the Prime Minister) will do and needs to do it (make the statement)," said the former External Affairs Minister.

He said the final agreement reached on March 2 this year carried elements that were not present in the July 18, 2005 document and that he got worried as the deal came up for discussion in the US Congress.