India's no to US on 'deterrent'

       New Delhi: Rejecting the suggestion of visiting US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher that India should further define the minimum credible deterrence, External Affairs Ministry today said that "credible minimum deterrent is a self-explanatory term that requires no further elucidation". External Affairs Ministry official spokesman Navtej Sarna said: " Credible minimum deterrent reflects our response to a dynamic and changing security environment". Noting the statement, that US secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice made in her testimony to the US Senate on Wednesday, Sarna said: "US Secretary of State Rice herself noted that the Indian strategic programme is more a factor of the military and political factors which India confronts." On Friday, Boucher in a speech had said that "India need to further define its minimum credible deterrence, which is absolutely necessary to decrease the tensions in subcontinent".

     Earlier, in the day, Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran told to a private TV news channel, NDTV that " whatever our credible minimum deterrent will be, is for India to decide". However, Saran added that in his talks with Boucher, nothing of that sort came up, as Boucher didn't raise this issue with him. "We do have a strategic dialogue with the US, where we have agreed to exchange views on our respective nuclear doctrines; also issues like missile defence that is legitimate. But certainly, there is no responsibility on the part of India to declare what its minimum deterrent is", Saran said. Saran reiterated India's position that it will work together with the US on the issue of disarmament and Fissile Material Cut off Treaty (FMCT) but also added that FMCT is a multilateral instrument. On his expectation that whether the nuclear deal with US would get ratified, Saran expressed confidence that the deal would materialise particularly due to the efforts shown by President Bush and Rice. Saran said: "After her (Rice) testimony, it's clear that opinion in the Congress is certainly looking at this initiative in a much more favourable light". Saran however said that if the deal fails to materialise it would have an impact on Indo-US ties, however the overall momentum in the relationship would continue.

US Congress delegation to visit India on nuke talks

     Washington: To discuss the recent Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement, an eight-member Congressional delegation led by Speaker of the US House J Dennis Hastert has announced plans to visit India next week. According to a press statement made here by the office of the speaker it said that Hastert will lead a bipartisan delegation to India on April 9-12 to look into the transformed relations between the US and India, and to learn more about key bilateral issues. The delegation will also discuss the importance of civil nuclear cooperation initiatives in strengthening the international nonproliferation system, it said. It is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Parliamentary leaders, and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Later the group is scheduled to visit Nepal and Vietnam, the statement said. The delegation, including seven Republicans and one Democrat, will be visiting New Delhi and Jaipur. Besides J. Dennis Hastert (Illionois), the delegation included Michael Oxley (Ohio), Sherwood Boehlert (New York), Frank Lucas (Oklahoma), Ray LaHood (Illinois), Paul Ryan (Wisconsin), Randy Neugebauer (Texas) all Republicans and Democrat Dan Boren (Oaklohoma).

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