The Hindu : Front Page : U.S. urged to lift curbs against two scientists

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 02, 2004

Front Page

Front Page

U.S. urged to lift curbs against two scientists

By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI, OCT. 1. India today asked the United States to review and withdraw the sanctions imposed on two scientists, C. Surendar and Y.S.R. Prasad, who had worked at the head of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India.

On September 29, the U.S. State Department imposed the Iran-related penalty for ``transfer of equipment and technology controlled under multilateral export control lists or otherwise having the potential to make a material contribution to the development of weapons of mass destruction or cruise or ballistic missile systems.''

The External Affairs Ministry spokesman said the Government had conveyed to the U.S. that it did not share the U.S. assessment.

Mr. Surendar, the spokesman said, had never visited Iran while in service or after retirement. ``Dr. Y.S.R. Prasad initially visited Iran under the aegis of the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] technical cooperation programme. Thereafter, he provided consultancy on safety-related aspects connected with the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which is under IAEA safeguards. He has not visited Iran since the mid-2003.

``No sale of materials, equipment and technologies was involved. No transfer of sensitive technology has taken place. The Government of India's commitment to prevent onward proliferation is second to none and our track record in this regard is well-known,'' the spokesman said.

Asked how the retention of seven Indian Space Research Organisation subsidiaries on the U.S. ``Entity List'' tallied with the fact that India and the U.S. had agreed to the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP), the spokesman said: ``You know that [the] NSSP has been agreed to. Phase I has been agreed to and that is indeed a very welcome development in bilateral relations. On this other issue, I would not like to mingle the two. I have stated our position and we have asked for the U.S. Government to review its position.''

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page