Thursday, July 27 2006 18:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The US today (July 27, 2006) said that the legislation passed by the House of Representatives to approve the India-US civil nuclear deal did not entail 'any shifting of goalposts' and contained no provisions that contradicted the July 18, 2005 understanding between the two countries.

"What has been agreed is consistent with the July 18 statement. There has been no moving of goalposts," Geoffrey Pyatt, charge d'affaires at the US embassy, told reporters.

"I would challenge anyone to point out anything in this bill that is inconsistent with the July 18 statement," Pyatt said in response to questions about the US trying to impose extra conditions on the nuclear deal.

The bill waiving decades of the US' ban on nuclear business with India in return for placing its civilian nuclear facilities under international inspections was approved by the House of Representatives with an overwhelming majority 359-68 after legislators rejected amendments that tried to constrain India's nuclear weapons programme. The Leftist allies of the ruling coalition in India and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has criticized the government for capitulating to the American pressure and agreeing to extra conditions that compromised the country's strategic programme.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has, however, asserted again that nothing that has been agreed with the US is inconsistent with the July 18 joint statement between him and US President George Bush last year.

Pyatt clarified that the bill didn't impose any moratorium on India's production of fissile material and allayed anxieties about annual certification by the US president on this score saying that it was the responsibility of the US administration and imposed "zero obligations" on India.

"The legislation affirms India's unilateral moratorium on the production of fissile material. It imposes zero constraints on India's production of fissile material," Pyatt said.

"It doesn't require India to disclose anything. It imposes burden on the US administration to provide annual reports to the US Congress on the quantity of fissile material in various countries of the world," he explained.

"There are a large number of international organizations that determine the quantity of fissile material in different countries," he added.

"India is not a target of the US non-proliferation regime. This bill identifies India as a partner of the US and allows for a mechanism for civil nuclear cooperation with India," he clarified.

"The five-hour long debate that preceded the vote in favour of the India-US civil nuclear accord in the House underlined democratic traditions of debate on both countries and reflected strong bipartisan consensus in support of the bill," he said.

Stressing on an 'enormous convergence of interests' across a broad spectrum of areas between the world's largest democracies, the US diplomat said that the bill proved beyond a shadow of doubt that India is a key partner of the US.

The Senate must also clear the bill approving the civil nuclear accord after the Congress reassembles in September. The House and the Senate would vote again on the nuclear deal after which it will be presented to the Congress for a final approval.

This will be followed by a bilateral agreement also called the 123 agreement after the relevant section of the US Atomic Energy Act, 1954.

India must also agree on a safeguards agreement with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Global nuclear commerce with India will, however, begin after the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group changes its regulations to allow nuclear transfers to India.