Manmohan Singh, US ambassador David Mulford

Sept. 3: India today said it would be guided “solely” by the bilateral deal with America that did not diminish its right to nuclear tests even as the ruling Congress decided to take on the Opposition and “nail their lie”.

Party chief Sonia Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, Pranab Mukherjee and other top leaders met at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence and concluded there was “no need” to go on the defensive over an “internal document” between two wings of the US government.

Sources said a senior minister would be fielded to rebut every charge of the Left and the BJP which claimed the state department’s answers to the US Congress had vindicated their “worst fears” about the 2005 agreement.

The government said Delhi would be “guided solely” by the terms of the bilateral agreement, the India Specific Safeguards Agreement and “clean waiver” from the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

“In so far as the issue of testing is concerned, our position is well known. We have a unilateral moratorium on testing. This is reflected in the India-US joint statement of July 18, 2005,” foreign ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna said.

Congress sources conceded that the party had been initially worried about how the Opposition campaign would play out in an atmosphere the BJP has built up over “threats” to internal security and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. But a “cool and dispassionate” perusal of the communiqué had shown that the government need not be on the back foot.

“This letter was not written by (President) George W. Bush. It was an exchange between two apparatuses of the US government; it was an internal document and did not concern India. It was written by an assistant secretary of the legislative business wing of the US state department,” said spokesperson Manish Tewari.

“We are only bound by the letter and spirit of the 123 Agreement (which lays down the nuts and bolts of the deal). Clause 14 clearly mandates that in case of an eventuality in which India needs to test, a consultative mechanism will be triggered. The agreement does not diminish India’s right to test. After the consultation is over, if necessary, any precipitate action may be taken.”

But the discomfiture was palpable. While the Congress core committee met to take stock of the situation, atomic energy department boss Anil Kakodkar flew to Delhi.

In a statement, US ambassador to India David Mulford said the document contained no “new conditions”. There is “no data in this letter which has not already been shared in an open and transparent way with members of Congress and with the government of India”, Mulford added.

The Congress said India would walk out “head held high” if the “red lines” drawn by the government were breached in the reworked US draft when the NSG meets in Vienna to discuss a waiver for Delhi from its trade guidelines.

Asked what could be the likely outcome of the NSG meeting, foreign minister Mukherjee said he would keep his “fingers crossed”.