No change to Indo-US nuke deal: Manmohan

Emerging from a 90-minute meeting with the prime minister on Saturday, the scientists have welcomed his statement made recently in Parliament that India's strategic programme would in no case be compromised while clinching the deal with the US.

The seven scientists, some of them former heads of India's Atomic Energy Commission, had written to Singh voicing their concern over the deal infringing on India's "independence" to carry out indigenous research and development in nuclear science and technology.

But Saturday, at the outset of the meeting, Singh reiterated the government's stand on the nuclear deal as articulated in Parliament.

An official statement issued by the prime minister's office after the meeting said the scientists reiterated their concerns over the changes being sought by members of the US Congress to the July 18, 2005 Joint Statement issued by US President George W Bush and the Indian prime minister on civilian nuclear cooperation.

"The prime minister reiterated the assurances he had given to Parliament in this regard", it said.

The prime minister invited the nuclear scientists to "help outline a path to take advantage of this new opportunity (provided by the nuclear deal) to end nuclear apartheid against India", said the statement.