Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today defended in Parliament the nuclear deal he signed with President George W. Bush during his recent visit to the US and made two important declarations: that India's strategic arsenal will remain outside the scope of any external interlocutors and that his government will not allow any fissile material shortages. Dr Manmohan Singh also sought to set the record straight on fears that India might not reap the benefits of the nuclear deal even after throwing open its nuclear facilities for international inspection and announced that the deal would be governed by "reciprocity'. By this he meant that India would not move ahead in a pre-determined manner even if Washington did not reciprocate.