No renegotiation of nuke deal with India

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said the administration was open to ideas from the Senate and House of Representatives "as long as they don't require us to go back and break the agreement, reopen negotiations."

Speaking at a forum of the Council on Foreign Relations, an influential US think tank, Burns said "we frankly think it is such a complex deal and we probably won't be able to put it back together again" if it was renegotiated.

Henry Hyde, the Republican head of the House's international relations committee that would scrutinise the civilian nuclear agreement, had said that Congress could give only conditional approval to the deal, clinched on March 2 by US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The deal gives energy-starved India access to long-denied civilian nuclear technology in return for placing a majority of its nuclear reactors under international inspection.

For it to be effective, the US Congress has to amend the US Atomic Energy Act, which currently prohibits nuclear sales to states not signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

India has refused to sign the NPT and developed nuclear weapons on its own.

Hyde had said Congress "may seek conditions" for approval of the deal.

"This is a complex agreement with profound implications for US and global interests. Congress will need to take a close look at its many provisions in order to come to an informed decision," Hyde said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to be grilled by legislators during a Congressional hearing on the agreement next week.

Burns said Monday the administration was open to ideas by legislators that could "strengthen" the agreement.