123 agreement to be unveiled tomorrow

The text of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal will be released as per an understanding between the two countries.

The text of the Indo-US agreement for operationalisation of the civil nuclear deal will be made public on Friday.

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The text of 123 agreement will be released simultaneously in New Delhi and in Washington as per an understanding between the two countries, official sources said on Thursday.

The document will be put on the website of the Ministry of External Affairs for comments and a debate on the significant agreement.

The agreement, which was approved by the Union Cabinet last week, will also be placed in Parliament when it meets for the monsoon session on August 10.

The agreement to operationalise the civil nuclear deal was reached in Washington late last month after tough year-long negotiations.

The talks were logjammed due to differences between the two sides on certain issues like reprocessing right for India, perpetuity of supplies and New Delhi's right to conduct a nuclear test.

Providing an outline of the agreement, officials of the two countries have said the pact is silent on nuclear testing by India. The US has, however, made it clear that it has reserved the right of recall of nuclear fuel and technology if India conducts an atomic test.

Washington would at the same time engage other members of Nuclear Suppliers Group to ensure uninterrupted supply of fuel to Indian safeguarded reactors.

New Delhi has also been granted upfront right on reprocessing.