India's PM defends nuclear deal

The agreement was finalised during Mr Bush's recent visit

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said a controversial nuclear deal agreed with the United States will not limit the country's nuclear programme.

India and the US finalised the deal during last week's visit by President George W Bush.

Energy-hungry India will get access to US civil nuclear technology and open its nuclear facilities to inspection.

The deal has been criticised by Communist and opposition parties who say it threatens national security.

Speaking for the first time since the deal was finalised, Mr Singh told parliament that India faced no constraints on its nuclear programme despite agreeing to open up some of its facilities for inspection.

Under the agreement, eight of India's reactors have been designated as military facilities and are closed to international inspectors, while 14 others have been placed in the civilian category.

Policy shift

"India has decided to place under safeguards all future civilian thermal power reactors and civilian breeder reactors, and the government of India retains the sole right to determine such reactors as civilian," Mr Singh said.

NUCLEAR POWER IN INDIA India has 14 reactors in commercial operation and nine under construction Nuclear power supplies about 3% of India's electricity By 2050, nuclear power is expected to provide 25% of the country's electricity India has limited coal and uranium reserves Its huge thorium reserves - about 25% of the world's total - are expected to fuel its nuclear power programme long-term Source: Uranium Information Center Global nuclear powers

"This means that India will not be constrained in any way in building future nuclear facilities, whether civilian or military, as per our national requirements."

US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns has said that the US was confident that India would focus its future nuclear growth in civilian energy development.

"We are having trouble understanding the argument that somehow this deal makes it more likely that India is going to engage in an arms build up. That's not at all the sense that we have from the Indian government," he was quoted telling a meeting in Washington by Reuters news agency.

The deal reverses US policy, which had restricted nuclear co-operation since India first tested a nuclear weapon in 1974.

It has been welcomed by the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Mr Bush has admitted it might be hard to get the landmark deal through the US Congress, which must ratify it.

India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).