The Hindu : National : ``Bill will not constrict nuclear programme''

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 14, 2005

National

National

``Bill will not constrict nuclear programme''

Diplomatic Correspondent

`Country determined to use advanced technology for security'

NEW DELHI: The passage in Parliament of the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Bill does not "in any manner constrict" India's nuclear programme — either strategic or civilian.

"India is determined to utilise advanced technology for its security," an External Affairs Ministry spokesman told presspersons. New Delhi was committed to meeting the nation's developmental requirements and people's needs.

It was an important piece of legislation in the light of India's emergence as a "nuclear State". It was an integrated and over-arching piece of legislation and met India's commitments under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 passed in April 2004.

To a question, the spokesman said it was a coincidence that the Bill was passed at a time when the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was being "reviewed" in New York.

During Thursday's debate in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that for countries such as India to sustain the reasonably high rate of economic growth that was required to eradicate poverty, energy could not be allowed to become a constraint.

"For us, nuclear energy is an important means to address this challenge. As such, we intend to maintain and expand our indigenous nuclear power programme. This would also ease the strain on conventional energy supplies globally. Since India's record in non-proliferation is impeccable and acknowledged to be so internationally, the current restrictions on cooperation in nuclear power production with India have become anachronistic and counter-productive," the Prime Minister said.

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