India said on Thursday it would not accept changes to an agreement with the US for use of fuel and equipment in its nuclear programmes. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rejected charges by lawmakers that his coalition was succumbing to US pressure to cap atomic research and weapons projects.
"We will not agree to any dilution that will prevent us from securing full civilian nuclear benefits," Singh told the upper house of parliament at the end of a day-long debate over the controversial deal.
"The proposed US legislation will not be allowed to become an instrument to compromise India's sovereignty," he said in a speech that lasted more than an hour.
If the accord, after being approved by US Congress and the Nuclear Suppliers Group of nations, did not conform to the parameters agreed by the two countries, India would draw "necessary conclusions", Singh said without elaborating.
The debate came weeks before the US Senate is expected to vote on the deal, after the House of Representatives gave it overwhelming backing last month.
The agreement will require the joint approval of the two houses after negotiations have been completed on technical details. The Nuclear Suppliers Group of nations that regulates global atomic trade must also give its approval.
The civilian nuclear co-operation pact gives nuclear-armed India access to US atomic fuel and equipment, despite New Delhi not having signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In return, New Delhi has agreed to international inspections of its civilian nuclear reactors and the segregation of its civilian and military programmes.
Some changes proposed by US lawmakers include a clause that would make it mandatory for the US administration to certify every year that India is sticking to the deal's terms.
Other amendments proposed by Congressmen include the end of nuclear co-operation if India conducts a nuclear test as well as caps on using spent nuclear fuel.