Pranab Mukherjee says India has sovereign right to conduct nuclear test

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today reiterated the UPA Governments stand that India has the sovereign right to future nuclear tests, and would do so if it is necessary in the national interest.

New Delhi, Aug 16 : External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today reiterated the UPA Government's stand that India has the sovereign right to future nuclear tests, and would do so if it is necessary in the national interest.

Commenting about questions being raised about India's right to test when the bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement with the US enters into force, Mukherjee told Parliament: "India has the sovereign right to test and would do so if it is necessary in national interest."

"The only restraint in our voluntary unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing, declared by the previous government and being continued by the successor government. There is nothing in the bilateral agreement that would tie the hands of a future government or legally constrain its options," he said.

"A decision to undertake a future nuclear test would be India's sovereign decision, resting solely with the Government of India," he added.

Mukherjee said, "Nowhere in the bilateral agreement on Cooperation for Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy with the United States of America is testing mentioned. The bilateral cooperation agreement contains elaborate provisions in Articles 5 and 14 to ensure the continuous operation of India's reactors. These include fuel supply assurances, the right to take corrective measures, and a strategic fuel reserve for the lifetime of India's reactors in case of cessation of cooperation."

The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha today witnessed an uproar by the opposition parties over the civil nuclear deal with the US, before being adjourned for the day.

Objections were also raised to a statement issued by Sean McCormack, US State Department Spokesperson, which effectively said that Washington had the right to terminate the deal if India conducted a nuclear test.

The BJP said that government had "misled" Parliament on the details of the agreement.

The MPs said McCormack's statement violated India's sovereignty and nuclear security.

On Monday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Parliament that the deal was crucial for the country's energy security, and did not take away its right to conduct nuclear tests.

The Left parties demanded a discussion and a proper response from the Government over the conflicting statements from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the US Administration.

"The statement made by the US State Department yesterday contradicts what our Prime Minister said on the floor of the House in his statement. So the issue is a bit complicated now. Because the Prime Minister has said one thing here and the US State Department tell a different thing quite opposite. So this is an issue, which need to be discussed; the government should respond properly," said D. Raja, MP belonging to the Communist Party of India (CPI).

"This is a 50 years agreement, which has to be discussed properly. Every Member of Parliament must be given an opportunity to speak. The government should put forth its stand and we will prove that the statement of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is false and the agreement, if we define we would say that the bomb that Vajpayee (then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee) made would be handed over to the Americans," alleged BJP MP Yaswant Sinha.

Some of the MPs staged a walk out of the House in protest against the deal.

The government, however, stood by the Prime Minister. Minister of State for External Affairs, Anand Sharma, said there was no contradiction in the statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"In the agreement .. have the strategic fuel reserve, for the life time of the reactors. We have retained India's right to test. Now that has to be its ...hypothetical that as and when you decide but that is what the Prime Minister and the government have throughout maintained that we have never compromised and not negotiated the sovereign right of India to detonate," Sharma told reporters outside Parliament.

ANI