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Friday, Apr 22, 2005

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"Iran pipeline not discussed with Rice"

Diplomatic Correspondent

Government response in Lok Sabha

NEW DELHI: The Government on Thursday clarified that the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline was "not discussed" at the official talks held here with the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, on March 16.

In a written response, the Minister of State for External Affairs, Rao Inderjit Singh, informed the Lok Sabha that "there are ongoing discussions between India, Pakistan and Iran on this [pipeline] matter. India's energy requirements are growing rapidly."

In a related development, the Government seems to have taken a step back on the issue of the U.S. offering civil nuclear energy technology to India after the "positive spin" put on the issue by the External Affairs Ministry on March 26.

"During the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, to New Delhi on March 16, 2005, discussions were held on the need for a positive U.S. response to India's growing energy demands, including nuclear energy. On March 25, 2005, a senior [U.S.] administration official stated in Washington D.C. in the course of a background briefing that the United States would be willing to discuss civil nuclear energy cooperation with India," Mr. Inderjit Singh told the Rajya Sabha in a written response.

On March 26, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman said that after this "background briefing on the supply of nuclear technology we have been informed that the U.S. Government is considering offering civilian nuclear energy and nuclear safety cooperation to India."

"These subjects were discussed during the visit of the Secretary of State on March 16, 2005. The decision by the U.S. administration to move forward on nuclear energy cooperation is welcome and reflects an understanding of India's growing energy requirements. We expect further substantive discussion within the ambit of the Indo-U.S. energy dialogue, which is proposed to be set up shortly," the spokesman stated. Days later, Ms. Rice herself, in an interview to The Wall Street Journal on April 13, made it plain that the U.S. was not about to sell civilian nuclear technology to India given Washington's "concerns" about the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).

NPT implications

Asked if the U.S. was prepared to sell nuclear reactor technology to India and work out a safeguard deal, the Secretary of State replied, "No, no, we're not there, that is not the case. We are having, as you know, with the Chinese, civil nuclear discussions. We have agreed with the Indians that we can talk about a variety of energy sources, but obviously there are NPT implications that are quite serious about civilian nuclear power in India."

In the same interview, Ms. Rice was asked if it didn't "limit the U.S. ability" or even the Security Council's ability to constrain the Iranian nuclear programme if India, a country with whom the U.S. had "a new strategic partnership", pursued cooperation with Iran on the oil front. How was she going to try to cut that off?

"I raised our concerns about it [during her New Delhi visit]. Everybody understands — and it's in the context of not just U.S. policy toward Iran, but, as I said, Iran as a destabilising force... I mean, I just think people have to take that into consideration.

"We do need to recognise and to help countries deal with the energy demands that they are facing. And if you look at China or India or any, many other growing economies now, Brazil, look around the world, there is a demand for stable energy sources. It's one reason that we are... you know, that we have energy dialogues that are popping up all over the place ."

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