Washington: India and the United States will sign the 123 Agreement today, with external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee signing the agreement with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. The minister leaves for Washington after receiving clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) last night.

Rice and Mukherjee will ink the agreement at the State Department at 4 PM local time on Friday evening (1:30 AM on Saturday morning IST), it has been officially announced.

The CCPA approved the landmark accord to implement the civil nuclear deal after discussing the final shape of the agreement and the accompanying statement by president George W Bush. The meeting was attended by Pranab Mukherjee, defence minister AK Antony, home minister Shivraj Patil and railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.

US president George W Bush signed into law legislation aimed at implementing the historic Indo-US civil nuclear deal on Wednesday assuring there were "no changes" in fuel supply commitments as provided in the 123 Agreement.

In a statement, he maintained that the legislation is clear that the agreement with India is consistent with Atomic Energy Act and the US law.

The HR 7081 - United States- India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act, enacted by the US Congress last week, reverses 34 years of US policy preventing nuclear trade with India and will allow American businesses to participate in what promises to be a $100 billion nuclear business.

Bush allays fears
In his signing statement, which reflects how the US president interprets a particular law for further implementation, president Bush has recorded that Washington will meet all its obligations in the 123 agreement. This is in response to doubts in India over the contents of the legislation he was signing and addresses concerns that the legislation deviated from that negotiated by the two countries.

"This legislation is important as it enables me to bring the 123 agreement into force and to accept on behalf of the United States the obligations contained in the agreement," he stated.

The first major concern India had raised was regarding provisions made in the introductory section of the Bill, where it was specified that the country's safeguarded fuel reserve should be "commensurate with reasonable reactor requirements".

This was contrary to the 123 agreement under which the US agreed to let India store lifetime supplies of fuel for its reactors. This inconsistency has been addressed by president Bush in his signing statement, where it is stated: "In addition, the legislation does not change the fuel assurance commitments that the US government has made to the Government of India, as recorded in the 123 agreement."

The other key issue related to oversight on India's reprocessing activities, and the US Congress Bill contained a right of disapproval for the Congress on any future Indo-US agreement to trade in enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technologies. The legislation also requires any such agreement with India to be put up for Congressional consideration for a longer period of time than the Atomic Energy Act, otherwise, specifies.

India's case is that the 123 agreement clearly recognises its right to reprocess and also allows the possibility of an agreement between both countries on ENR trade in the future. In this regard Bush has once again provided required reassurance.

"The agreement grants India advance consent to reprocessing which will be brought into effect upon conclusion of arrangements and procedures of a dedicated reprocessing facility under IAEA safeguards," says the signing statement.

This is commensurate with the language as mentioned in the 123 agreement.

Indian ambassador to US Ronen Sen has expressed his confidence that all Indian concerns regarding the prescriptive elements of the legislation had been adequately addressed. "I think the statement (of Bush) speaks for itself... all concerns that have been expressed, who fear the implications of certain elements of the legislation, all those have been met," he said in response to a query on fuel supply assurances.