US bid to scuttle Russia-India reactor deals

C K Arora in Washington

The United States has opposed the proposed Russian sale of two nuclear power reactors to India, insisting that the deal is in violation of a1992 agreement to which Moscow is a party.

Under the 1992 accord, reached among the Nuclear Suppliers Nations members, Russia is barred from providing nuclear knowhow to India because of India's refusal to allow international inspections of all its nuclear installations.

State Department spokesperson Nicholas Burns said on Thursday, January 6, that if India wants to modernise its nuclear installations, it should subject all its nuclear installations to ''full-scope'' safeguards, including international inspection.

These safeguards have been evolved by the Nuclear Supplier group as part of international efforts to stem the spread of nuclear weapons.

Under the accord, the group which includes Russia, agreed that its export of nuclear knowhow would follow only after the recipient had put in place full-scope safeguards. ''And, as you know, India has not accepted full-scope safeguards, therefore, we do not believe that the Russian government should proceed with only a kind of nuclear assistance to India, including the provision of nuclear power reactors,'' he added.

Burns said ''We have raised the issue with the Russian government repeatedly and we will continue to raise it with them.''

However, he could not recall as to when the US had raised the matter with India last time. Nor was he aware about the status of the deal.

''I don't know the exact status of the agreement but I do know that we are opposed to it,'' the spokesman remarked.

Asked whether the US would raise the issue during the current round of talks here between Vice-President Al Gore and visiting Russian Prime Minster Viktor Chernomyrdin, he said he was not certain about the agenda of their dialogue.

Burns said the US is opposed to any kind of transfer of technology by Russia to Iran and Cuba which figure on its list of ''rogue nations''. The US has also opposed the sale of the Russian anti-aircraft system to Cyprus.

He said the Russian government, in other respects, has been very concerned about the issue of nuclear proliferation. It has been very helpful, along with the US and other nations, in trying to stem the problem of proliferation worldwide.

''In the case of India,'' he pointed out, ''we have much better relationship with India than with Iran or Cuba. In fact, we would not compare them,'' he added.

The spokesman, however, said the problem with India was that it had not accepted the full scope safeguards of the nuclear suppliers' group ''and, we would hope that India would agree to do that before it wished to modernise its own nuclear power plant technology'', he added.

A correspondent drew his attention to the fact that the Russia-India deal had been under consideration since 1987 and wanted to know how it could attract the 1992 Nuclear Suppliers' group sanctions.

Burns, in reply, said if the contract came after 1992, it violated the letter and spirit of the Nuclear Suppliers' group accord, and certainly, if Russia was to be a good member of the group, which he was sure, it did want to be, ''we think that this simply is not in the spirit of the agreement to go forward (with the sale),'' he added.

''What bothers us about this,'' he pointed out, ''we have an excellent relationship with India, and I think we have improved that relationship over the last four to five years, but on this question of nuclear technology for nuclear power plants we believe all countries should submit themselves…''

He said this was just common sense. It protected people all over the world, including in India and the US.

He, however, made it clear that the US opposition to the sale had nothing to do with India's opposition to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

The spokesperson said they were two separate issues. ''The issue of test ban, of course, refers to something quite different and we have a well-known position on that which has not changed.''

Though the two issues are not linked together, both are important. ''There are international agreements in place on both issues which we wish India would respect and, in fact, join, I think that is the long-term goal that we have in our relationship with India,'' he added.

Burns said this proposed sale had been an ongoing issue between the US and Russian discussion, the US had taken it up with Moscow quite consistently, India was also well aware of the US concerns, he added.

UNI