The US assured India that the UN Security Council resolution on the nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty (NPT) issue is not directed against it and will not affect the Indo-US nuclear deal.
“We have been assured (by the US) that this is not a resolution directed against India and that the US commitment to carry out its obligations under the civil nuclear agreement, which we have signed with the United States, remains undiluted,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who interacted twice with US President Barack Obama during the G-20 summit, told reporters.
“That (commitment on the nuclear deal) we have been assured officially by the US government,” Dr Singh said, wrapping up his two-day visit.
He was replying to a question about the UNSC resolution asking all non-NPT states, including India, to sign the NPT.
“Last night I met him (Mr Obama) and today I was seated to his right during lunch. I discussed some important issues with him,” Dr Singh said on being asked whether he had any bilateral meetings with the US President.
When asked if the stand taken by countries like the the US, France and Britain against Iran after the discovery of a new uranium enrichment plant there would force India to sign NPT and similar international treaties, the Prime Minister said New Delhi’s position on Iran remained as before.
“Iran is a signatory to the NPT. As a signatory to the NPT it has all the rights that go with the membership -- that is peaceful use of atomic energy. It must also carry out all its obligations,” Dr Singh said. “That is the principled position we have taken in the last five years.”
0 Responses to NPT not directed at India: PM