India upholds nuclear non-proliferation rules and will never spread sensitive technology, its prime minister said on Tuesday, a day after the United States promised to help the South Asian power develop its civilian atomic sector.
"India's track record in nuclear non-proliferation is impeccable," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at a joint session of the US Congress. "We have adhered scrupulously to every rule and canon in this area."
India, which tested a nuclear weapon in 1998, has not signed the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and is in an arms race with Pakistan. However, it has agreed to accept voluntary commitments to some elements of the non-proliferation regimes.
Singh addressed US lawmakers a day after President George W. Bush, in a dramatic reversal of decades-old policy, said he would ask Congress to change US law and work with allies to adjust international rules to allow nuclear trade with India.
Washington had barred providing atomic technology to India because of New Delhi's status as a nuclear power that has refused to sign the NPT, which was designed to halt the spread of nuclear weapons.
The policy shift, which underscored Washington's recognition of India as a rising power and potential counterweight to China, drew sharp criticism from members of Congress. Some vowed to push legislation to block the change.
Proliferation experts raised strong concerns that expanding US co-operation with India would undercut US efforts to press Iran and North Korea from halting their nuclear arms ambitions. Iran denies it is trying to build bombs, while North Korea declared itself a nuclear armed power in February.
Singh told senators and congressmen India was "fully conscious of the immense responsibilities that come with the possession of advanced technologies, both civilian and strategic."
"We have never been, and never will be, a source of proliferation of sensitive technologies," he said.
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