Author:
Publication: The Times of India
Date: February 26, 2001
Russia has assured India that it
will fulfil its commitment to supply nuclear fuel for Tarapur atomic reactors
despite the US demand for its cancellation.
"Moscow would fulfil its commitments
despite US State Department's demand to cancel the deal since it allegedly
violated the Kremlin's global non-proliferation commitments," the Vremya
Novostyei reported quoting official sources.
Moscow gave the assurances to New
Delhi during last week's Indo-Russian National Security Councils' expert-
level dialogue on global security, the daily said.
"We did our best to remove the apprehensions
of our Indian colleagues by explaining that we don't see any reason for
refusing to supply nuclear fuel, since from the point of view of our international
obligations, it is an absolutely 'clean' contract," chief of the international
security department of the Security Council of the Russian Federation (SCRF),
Nikolai Uspensky, was quoted as saying.
Uspensky and Arvind Gupta from India
had co-chaired the sub-group of the National Security Councils on global
and regional security and stability, non-proliferation and disarmament.
Experts quoted by Vremya Novostyei
insisted that Tarapur nuclear deal 'in no way' violated Russia's international
non-proliferation obligations, since the plant was under International
Atomic Energy Authority safeguards.
Russian experts view the US objections
as an attempt to keep Russia out of the international market of high technologies,
the daily commented.(PTI)
