He spoke to rediff.com about the just released 123 Agreement that will help operationalise the civil nuclear cooperation between India and the United States.

I believe the text of the 123 Agreement allows for the realisation of both the letter and spirit of the July 18, 2005 agreement arrived at between President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images].

It is a very dexterous piece of drafting and uses the English language in an exceedingly innovative manner so as to recognise the sensitivities on both sides.

Coverage: The Indo-US nuclear tango

It also registers their distinctive, as also inherited, democratic dissent on the nuclear issue.

However, I would characterise this text as being empathetic to India's tangible concerns and possible future exigencies.

The underpinning in the preamble is significant for it accords the same status to both parties and adds that their respective nuclear programmes will be respected.

In a similar fashion, respect for national sovereignty is reiterated, as also non-interference in internal matters. Obviously, the emphasis is on civil nuclear cooperation and other matters -- such as India's strategic programme and size of its arsenal -- are not part of the text.

This should allay Indian concerns. But at the same time, the US concerns about non-proliferation are also noted. In short, this text recognises India's right to test (though the text does not explicitly refer to this eventuality) even while providing for the US to respond -- without making this either intimidating or intrusive.

The explanatory section about the context in which either party may seek to invoke the termination clause has in-built insurance embedded in it and that to my mind should meet all of India's real and imagined concerns.

This is also the most party-sensitive 123 Agreement that the US has ever arrived at -- in comparison to the other agreements with countries like China, Russia [Images] etc.

In all, this is the best India and the US could have arrived at and full marks to the officials concerned and their political mentors who have given them both space and encouragement to achieve this.

Commodore C Uday Bhaskar spoke to Sheela Bhatt