New Delhi, Aug. 17: Former Atomic Energy Commission chairman P.K. Iyengar today interpreted the Prime Minister’s assurances on the nuclear deal as “a lot of promises intended to allay our fears”.

“But they could be too attractive to come true. We’ll have to wait and see,” Iyengar said. He said it would be interesting to observe the reaction of the non-proliferation lobby in the US.

Iyengar was one of eight nuclear scientists who had cautioned MPs about the deal earlier this week, warning that lawmakers in the US Congress had “modified in both letter and spirit” the agreement signed in July 2005.

The Prime Minister has invited the scientists to a discussion on August 26.

Singh told the Rajya Sabha there would be no curbs on India’s nuclear weapons activities and the proposed separation plan would have no effect on the nation’s strategic programme.

However, the versions of the bills that went through the US Congress were influenced by the non-proliferation lobby in the US, Iyengar said. The statements by Singh might be viewed by the lobby as “constraints” being expressed by the Indian government, he added. “We have to see how they will respond to this.”