A BIG HAND FOR MANMOHAN: Vice-President Dick Cheney, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other legislators applaud Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the end of his address to the Joint Meeting of the U.S. Congress in Washington on Tuesday. — Photo: AP

WASHINGTON DC: In a move that recognises India as a nuclear weapons state for all practical purposes but stops short of declaring it as one, the United States has committed itself to working for ``full civil nuclear energy cooperation'' with the country, including both direct and third party supplies of fuel for the safeguarded reactors at Tarapur. President George Bush will ``seek agreement from Congress to adjust U.S. laws and policies'' towards this end.

In return for such recognition and restrictions-free cooperation, India has committed itself to separating civilian and military nuclear facilities and placing its civilian nuclear reactors voluntarily under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

In the Joint Statement issued with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Bush referred to India as ``a responsible state with advanced nuclear technology" and spoke of its commitment to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The context made it clear that it was assumed to be a nuclear weapons state, asserted Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran in a briefing following the joint statement that was issued on Monday evening after hours of hard negotiations that continued well after the talks between the two leaders had ended.

In addition, the Joint Statement noted Dr. Singh's readiness to assume ``the same responsibilities and practices and acquire the same benefits and advantages as other leading countries with advanced nuclear technology, such as the United States.'' It also made explicit mention that those responsibilities and practices consisted of "identifying and separating civilian and military nuclear facilities and programmes in a phased manner" and filing a declaration on its civilian facilities with the IAEA.

Apart from such implied recognition as a nuclear weapons state in the joint declaration, the U.S. administration committed itself to working with friends and allies to "adjust the international regimes to enable full civil nuclear energy cooperation and trade with India" that would include "expeditious consideration of fuel supplies for safeguarded reactors at Tarapur.'' The U.S. would also encourage its partners to consider the request for fuel to Tarapur expeditiously.

India and ITER

Further, it would consider India's participation in two projects on the frontiers of nuclear technology.

The first is the ITER experimental hydrogen plasma project of China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, the United States and Russia under the IAEA located in France that would start operations in 2016 and provide 500 MW of fusion power.

The second is the development of fourth generation reactors under the Generation IV International Forum, a joint project of 10 countries that would aim for competitively priced energy that is also safe and resistant to proliferation.

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