New Delhi: The US on Saturday clarified to New Delhi that its position remains that the civil nuclear cooperation will not be suspended automatically even if India conducts an atomic test.
The clarification came in the wake of an uproar in India by the Opposition parties following a remark by US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, who had said all civilian nuclear cooperation with India will be terminated if New Delhi decides to conduct a nuclear test.
On Friday, India had asked for a clarification from Washington on the remark. "It has been reiterated to us that the US position remains as it had been articulated earlier at an authoritative level," Indian Ambassador to US, Ronen Sen, said in Washington.
The Bush administration has 'reiterated' that India "retains its right to (conduct a nuclear) test and the US retains its right to react," Sen said, adding, however, that "this reaction will not be automatic suspension of all cooperation."
The clarification comes four days after State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said "the proposed 123 Agreement has provisions in it that in an event of a nuclear test by India, all nuclear cooperation is terminated."
The remark had triggered an upheaval in India's political arena with the Left allies of the government and the Opposition parties targeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and accusing him of 'misleading' the country.
The Left parties alleged that some 'facts were being concealed' by the government. The Indian Government has pointed out that 123 Agreement is silent on the issue of testing, implying that New Delhi has not lost the right to explode a nuclear bomb, if required, in national interest.
The Prime Minister told Parliament on Monday that the agreement to operationalise the civilian nuclear deal would not affect India's right to undertake future nuclear tests.
(With PTI inputs)
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