On Board Air India One: Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on Saturday declined to get into discussion over
former US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice`s contention that
he was not keen on the Civil Nuclear deal.
"I don`t know what Rice has written. I think the reference
was to what happened in July 2005 (when the civil nuclear deal
was agreed upon). I don`t remember the sequence of events.
"... When I became convinced that the deal can be achieved
and was in people`s interest... These are various stages in
discussions," Singh said.
He was responding when asked Rice`s contention in her book
that Singh was initially not keen on the Civil Nuclear deal
and it was the then External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh who
pushed him on the issue.
Asked about the issues that are expected to come up in his
meeting with President Barack Obama in Bali next week, Singh
said he would not like to make any guess on it but certainly
the current state of relations will figure.
India has already put in place a rules and regulations
related to nuclear commerce, he said.
PTI
