'India's nuke plan under threat'

Pointing to a loophole in the Indo-US nuclear deal, he said India had given more concessions than making gains.

The Waiver Bill, Vajpayee said, was more "stringent" than the CTBT and unlike Pakistan and China would not grant India "waiver in perpetuity".

"The least the government of India should do is to insist that there should be an all-time waiver by the US President as in the case of China. Further, India should retain the right to conduct nuclear tests if any other country, such as China or Pakistan, were to do so," he said.

What was shocking, Vajpayee said, was the "fact that if the President of US determines that India has 'detonated a nuclear explosive device' after this enactment by the US Congress, such waiver shall be terminated".

He warned that as and when the waiver Bill was passed it would "convert a voluntary moratorium on further tests by India into a legally binding commitment for all times to come, without any possibility of withdrawal under special circumstances, as provided for in the CTBT".

"This position is not acceptable," he added.

Also he said that it was unacceptable that the US President should constantly monitor whether India was complying with "conditionality built into the Act".

He said according to "reliable estimates" separation cost for India's military and civilian nuclear facilities would be "heavy".