Allaying fears of US openly accessing military sites and equipment under the bilateral End-User arrangements, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the pact "does not compromise" India's sovereignty, but provided "an element of predictability" through options.
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"There is nothing in the text that compromises India's sovereignty. There is no provision for unilateral verification by the US on imported defence equipment. India has a sovereign right. Any verification has to follow a request and it will be decided only on mutually-accepted date and venue. This has introduced an element of predictability," Dr Singh said while making an intervention during the debate on his recent foreign visits.
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He was responding to BJP leader Yashwant Sinha's concern that there was no clarity on the recent End-User Monitoring arrangements agreed during the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that provided for US experts to verify imported defence equipment.
"I give an assurance to all members to guarantee sovereignty and integrity of India," the prime minister said.
Describing the arrangements as "a generic formulation," Dr Singh said this would apply for future supplies from America.
The government has come under a lot of attack from Opposition members for finalising the End-User Monitoring arrangements, which they said has compromised India's sovereignty and has given free access to military sites and equipment for US inspections.
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Dr Singh also said that the negotiations for inspections would happen case-by-case.
Asserting that the country should do everything possible to provide modern weapons and equipment to the forces, the prime minister said India needed access to latest technology to meet the needs of its security.
He said the country should also diversify its sources to procure defence equipment and technology.
Dr Singh also said India had been signing individual end-user agreements with the US for equipments and supplies on a case-by-case basis since late 1990s.
