New Delhi: In an effort to further allay India's concerns over reference to Iran in the new nuclear cooperation law, US' Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher has said that the reporting requirement on Iran "does not impinge" on India.
Boucher's statement comes just days after US President George Bush assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that what India sees as prescriptive provisions will not be American foreign policy.
The Secretary for State said that the nuclear cooperation will be guided by the 123 Agreement, which is being negotiated to operationalise the civil nuclear deal.
The US Congress wants that the American administration should "report to them and it doesn't impinge on India because it doesn't involve India," he said.
The Henry J Hyde US-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act, which President Bush signed and made into law on Monday says that US will seek India's cooperation in isolating as well as sanctioning Iran.
This factor had caused concerns in India as scientists are of the opinion that India should not be asked to participate in international non-proliferation efforts with a policy that serves primarily serves US interests.
BJP and Left parties were also apprehensive as they felt that the US is trying to influence India's foreign policy.
Earlier, Opposition leader L K Advani had said, “The primary aim of the Hyde Act is to cap, roll back and eliminate India’s nuclear weapons programme.” He also added that the Hyde Act equated India with Pakistan.
However, Boucher tried to placate matters by saying, "It is just a report that we have to provide to our Congress on a issue that everybody knows we are interested in. I don't see how that breaks any new ground for anybody in that matter."
(With inputs from PTI)
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