The Hindu : Front Page : UPA plays lone hand in defending nuclear deal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 05, 2007
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UPA plays lone hand in defending nuclear deal

Sandeep Dikshit

CPI(M): a dangerous folly; BJP says it will renegotiate pact

NEW DELHI: The Left Parties, the National Democratic Alliance and the United National Progressive Alliance assailed the India-United States civil nuclear agreement in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party declaring that it would renegotiate the deal if it came to power.

Speaking during the marathon discussion on the nuclear deal, ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) members along with a few independents and nominated members argued that the agreement would ensure access to an alternative source of energy and high-end technology. “The unmistakable message is that the UPA is very badly isolated on the nuclear deal,” observed V. Maitreyan (AIADMK).

Initiating the discussion, Sitaram Yechury (Communist Party of India-Marxist) said the UPA government would be committing a “dangerous folly” if it went ahead with the deal. Mr. Yechury asked the government to do a “rethink” and said it was faulty in its “pretext, text and context.” The text also violated at least three assurances given to Parliament by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, added the CPI(M) leader.

The former Union Minister, Yashwant Sinha (BJP), charged the government with “misleading” the nation on all major issues relating to the deal, including the right to reprocess fuel, assured fuel supply and energy security. Asking the government to stop “crying” over ending nuclear apartheid, he said that when the entire world wanted to do business with India, “what apartheid are you talking about?”

Dr. Singh termed “false” Mr. Sinha’s charge that the government was pressured by the U.S. to refrain from signing an agreement with Russia on the Koodankulam reactors in Tamil Nadu. But several members, including Mr. Maitreyan, D. Raja (CPI) and others, quoted The Hindu to assert that there was a linkage between the government backing away from signing an agreement for more reactors with Russia and U.S. displeasure if it had done so.

Mr. Raja said the 123 agreement was aimed at dragging India into its global strategy for Asia so that it played the same role as Israel does in the Middle East. As a majority of Parliamentarians were against the deal, he wanted the government to take this factor into consideration and refrain from operationalising it. Amar Singh (Samajwadi Party) also made known his opposition to the deal and refuted reports that his party had “softened” its stand.

Mr. Maitreyan assailed the “open market lobbying” by the U.S. and felt he would not have been surprised if its officials had even ventured to address Parliament in support of the deal. Making her maiden speech, Kanimozhi (DMK) said nuclear-based power plants had an enviable safety record and felt that a pact with the U.S. in this sector would not mean endorsing its policies in other spheres. K. Kasturirangan, Supriya Sule (NCP) and Abhishek Singhvi (Congress) spoke in favour of the deal.

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