'The prime minister made it very, very clear about the limits of India's ambition'

Was this your position before you came to New Delhi?

Yes! Well, this was the position in my head and I haven't talked about it as much publicly. I talked to Secretary Burns before I came here, I spoke to Joe Nye at Harvard, I talked to Bob Einhorn and people who are opposed to it. I did my homework. It is my judgment that all in all it is better that we move in this direction.

But I still would like to see the agreement in its final form to reach a little further to accomplish the clarity I talked about.

What did Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh tell you that convinced you about India's bona fides?

I think the prime minister is very articulate, a person whose bona fides don't have to be tested by me or by anyone else. He is a man of honour and he speaks very clearly of India's record and India's determination to live up to the highest standards. I am confident they will.

I also recognize -- as I think it is important for us to -- that India faces a different set of circumstances from other countries, with China and Pakistan; Pakistan having also developed its military programme and having violated the NPT in doing so without recourse.

I think we are dealing with a different world here. The NPT has not been sufficiently enforced and not been sufficiently defined for these modern times. I think this (the India-US nuclear agreement) is in many ways a first step in doing that.

The prime minister understands that. He made it very, very clear about the limits of India's ambition in this regard. I accept that because the record of the last 50 years speaks to that. I think we would be remiss if we did not acknowledge that.

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