'Unique And Difficult'

Shyam Saran: As far as India is concerned, the civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement stands on its own merits. Whatever interaction we have had in the recent past with visiting Congressmen, visiting Senators and the interaction that we have also had ourselves with Congressmen and Senators in Washington leads us to believe that there is a fund of goodwill for India in the US Congress, that there is a very pervasive feeling of friendship and support, a bipartisan support for a much stronger Indo-US relationship. Therefore, we remain hopeful that the civilian nuclear energy cooperation agreement - once it has been negotiated between the two administrations, when it goes to the Congress - will receive a positive response.

Question, NDTV: This is to Under Secretary Burns and Foreign Secretary Saran. You yourself have termed this entire agreement as very difficult and unique. The papers presented to you by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, do you find them credible and defensible?Mr. Saran, do you think that India shares the concerns of US, UK and EU-3 on the Iran issue?

Nicholas Burns: Thank you very much. In July, the Prime Minister and the President set out to undertake something new in international politics, that is, the United States made a commitment to India and India made some commitments to the United States that we would try to overcome thirty years of division and disagreement on the civil nuclear issue and the United States will commit to make the argument to the Nuclear Suppliers Group as well as to the United States Congress that both US law and international law and practice should be overturned to permit the international community to engage in trade, in technology transfer, in investment, in India’s civil nuclear energy. We think that proposition is an important one and will further the nonproliferation objectives of the international community because the largest democracy in the world, India will no longer be outside the system but will be inside the system. Of course, that has enormous potential benefits for India. The benefits for the United States and the world community are that we will be working with India and engaging India on an equal basis. So, there will be benefits for both sides. It is a very attractive proposition.

What is unique and difficult, of course, is that this kind of thing has not been done before. India is a unique country and its position on this particular issue and this industry is unique obviously. So, President Bush has taken the position that this is in the interest of the United States, it is in the interest of the other countries of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

We have had very good discussions in many different cities, in New York, in Washington, in Delhi and I think we have met in some European capitals. We have talked a lot on the phone. I think what we have been able to do is establish a framework for how this agreement can work. We have now had a thorough discussion with the competent nuclear authorities of eachgovernment by the way, in Foreign Secretary Saran’s delegation and in my own delegation, about the intricacies and the details of this. There is no question that we have made some progress over the last six months but much further progress has to be made, and that there are some difficulties ahead of us. I have spent twenty-five years in diplomacy thinking that with goodwill and with dedication, countries can reach agreements and I have the same feeling about this agreement.

Shyam Saran: We remain very supportive of the initiative taken by the EU-3 to engage Iran in finding an amicable solution to some of the issues which have been raised with regard to the Iranian nuclear programme. We have been extremely supportive of that process. It stands to reason that India - which has, with Iran a very long-standing, close and what we call civilizational relationship with its people – would not like to see a situation of confrontation developing in a region that is very close to India. Therefore, our advice has always been that confrontation should be avoided. This is a message that we have given to our friends. This is a message that, by the way, we have also given to our Iranian friends that an effort needs to be made in order to avoid a situation of confrontation from developing. We also believe that in dealing with this issue it is important to develop as broad an international consensus as possible. Much of our effort over the last several weeks has been directed towards developing that international consensus. That is the spirit in which we have also discussed this matter in the last couple of days both with the United States of America, as also representative of the EU-3 who was on a visit to India recently, as well as with Iran.

Question, Associated Press:: Mr. Burns, you mentioned difficulties in working out with the nuclear deal. Can you elaborate what these difficulties are?

Nicholas Burns: I wish I could have the luxury of taking you into the inside of these negotiations and telling you all the details. But I am afraid that would violate all rules of diplomacy if I did that. Suffice to say, I talked about the unique nature of these negotiations given the history of the nonproliferation regime, given India’s own history in the nuclear sphere. I think that has added to the complexity of the negotiations just by definition. There is no question that we believe, and we have said many times, that for any agreement to be credible with United States Congress and with Nuclear Suppliers Group (it) is going to have to be a detailed agreement, it is going to have to be substantial. Despite the fact that we have been at this for six months I think there is still a further way to go. We, both sides, realize that and we realize that we have our work cut out for us over the next several weeks. But we are dedicated, as a friend of India, to work on a respectful and equal basis with the Indiangovernment.

We will have to see if we can be successful. I hope we can because it is very important that this agreement be realized. It is an agreement made between the President and the Prime Minister. It would have enormous benefits for India. It would really allow India to engage in international trade, in technology, in research and development with other countries who have scientific institutions in a way that has not been possible for thirty years. It would allow the nonproliferation community internationally, the regime that has been established internationally, to have the benefit of India meeting the same standards and practices in the civil sphere (as) the rest of us have been meeting for a long time. So, we are negotiating on that basis. We have to see what happens in the future. We would be working hard. But there are difficulties ahead.

Question, Associated Press:: A quick follow-up. …(Inaudible)… before the President arrives so that the deal can be concluded and presented to the Congress?

Nicholas Burns: I do not know for sure. Our goal, of course, would be to have an agreement before President Bush arrives in India. We would hope for that. Of course, nothing is ever certain in these types of negotiations. But … we have going for us, there is a lot of trust between thegovernment of United States and the government of India. We feel that trust. We feel that we are negotiating with a highly professional set of diplomats on the Indian side. We know we have the goodwill of the Indiangovernment and they have ours. In diplomacy that goes a long way. Both of us want to see the end of these negotiations and want to see it move forward. So, we are proceeding on that basis.

Question, The Hindustan Times:: Secretary Burns, this question relates to the Iranian National Security Advisor recently equating the Indian nuclear programme with that of Iran’s and saying that this was an example of international double standards on the whole nuclear issue. What do you have to say on that?

Nicholas Burns: Well, I saw Dr. Larijani’s remarks which asserted this kind of double standards. Frankly I was, I think everyone was, surprised by them.