123 agreement is legally-binding: Mukherjee

Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington, Oct 11 (PTI) After three years of tough
negotiations, India and the U.S. Saturday sealed the landmark
civil nuclear deal, with New Delhi insisting that fuel supply
assurances are "legally-binding" on both the countries which
have "responsibilities and obligations" to implement it.

The 123 agreement, which operationalises the nuclear
deal, was signed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee
and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice here, paving the way
for American companies to have a share in the multi-billion
dollar Indian nuclear pie.

The nuclear deal, envisioned by Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh and President George W. Bush on July 18, 2005, marks an
end to over three-decade-old U.S. restrictive policy towards
India in the nuclear field.

Speaking on the occasion, Rice said the nuclear deal
demonstrates that "now there is nothing we cannot do."

Mukherjee said "we will implement this agreement in good
faith. That clearly implies we trust each other."

Noting that the agreement reflects a "careful balance
of rights and obligations", he said "its (agreement's)
provisions are now legally-binding on both sides once the
agreement enters into force."

"We are bound by the agreed text of the 123 agreement,
which was negotiated by the negotiators of the two
countries... The text of the agreement, if you go through, has
entrusted responsibilities and obligations on both sides," he
said.

Under Article 5.6 of the 123 Agreement, the U.S. has
given an assurance to ensure uninterrupted fuel supplies to
India for the lifetime of a reactor under International
Atomic Energy Agency (I.A.E.A.) safeguards.

The agreement also clearly spells out that if either
country wants to cease civil nuclear cooperation, it will give
a one-year notice to the other, during which talks will be
held to ascertain whether there were any compelling justified
reasons to provoke such an action.
Indicating how difficult the process of concluding the
deal was, Mukherjee said that there had been moments when
doubts had arisen as to whether the accord would materialise.

"Of course, in these long three years, there had been
many moments of suspicion," he said.

Mukherjee refused to comment on the internal political
process in the U.S., particularly after questions were raised
over the future of the agreement if India conducts a nuclear
test.

"Every country has its own way of internal mechanism of
fulfilling the constitutional obligation and also the process
of legislation," he said.