New Delhi, July 30: Allaying fears of US openly accessing military sites and equipment under the bilateral End-User arrangements, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the pact “does not compromise” India’s sovereignty, but provided “an element of predictability” through options.
“There is nothing in the text that compromises India’s sovereignty…There is no provision for unilateral verification by the US on imported defence equipment. India has a sovereign right…
“Any verification has to follow a request and it will be decided only on mutually-accepted date and venue…This has introduced an element of predictability,” Singh said while making an intervention during the debate on his recent foreign visits.
All governments, including our Government, are particular about the end uses to which exported defence equipment and technologies are put to and for preventing them from falling into wrong hands, he added.
He was responding to BJP leader Yashwant Sinha’s concern that there was no clarity on the recent End-User Monitoring arrangements agreed during the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that provided for US experts to verify imported defence equipment.
“I give an assurance to all members to guarantee sovereignty and integrity of India,” the Prime Minister said.
Describing the arrangements as “a generic formulation,” Singh said this would apply for future supplies from America.
“Since the late nineties, the Governments of India and the US have entered into End Use Monitoring arrangements for the import of US high-technology defence equipment and supplies. The Government has only accepted those arrangements which are fully in consonance with our sovereignty and dignity,” he said.
The government has come under a lot of attack from Opposition members for finalising the End-User Monitoring arrangements, which they said has compromised India’s sovereignty and has given free access to military sites and equipment for US inspections.
Singh also said that the negotiations for inspections would happen case-by-case.
Asserting that the country should do everything possible to provide modern weapons and equipment to the forces, the Prime Minister said India needed access to latest technology to meet the needs of its security.
You have my assurance that the Government has taken all precautions to ensure an outcome that guarantees our sovereignty and national interest, the PM told the Opposition.
He said the country should also diversify its sources to procure defence equipment and technology.
G-8 resolution on ENR will have no impact on India
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today made it clear that G-8 resolution on curbing transfer of enrichment and reprocessing technology will have no impact on India as there was no consensus in this regard in the Nuclear Suppliers Group that controls global trade in the field.
Intervening in a debate in the Lok Sabha on his recent foreign visits, Singh also asserted that there was no question.
Responding to concerns about the G-8 resolution adopted in L’Aquila in Italy earlier this month that provided for barring transfer of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technologies to non-NPT countries, he said India does not have civil nuclear cooperation agreements with all G-8 group per se, but bilaterally with France, Russia and the US.
Any decision to bar technology transfer will require consensus at NSG, he said, adding that the 45-nation NSG had given a “clean exemption” to India.
Singh said India will remain engaged with NSG on the issue. “It is our expectation that any future discussion in NSG related to transfer of technology will take into account specific status to India and India-specific exemptions.”
Underlining that NSG had given “clean” waiver to India, he said “we are committed to achieve full civil nuclear cooperation” as per the exemption given by the grouping which has agreed to transfer of all technologies by individual countries consistent with their national laws.
-Agencies