India-US nuclear deal : UPA, Left accord to buy time,Indian Politics, News Analysis, India News Online

After three weeks of a tense standoff, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and the Left parties have managed to break the deadlock over the India-US civilian nuclear deal. The agreement thrashed out at a meeting of top leaders of the Con¬gress and the Left at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence in New Delhi on Thursday, August 30, provides for the setting up of a committee to go into the Left’s objections to the nuclear deal with the United States. Those who participated in the meeting included Congress president Sonia Gandhi, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Political Adviser to Congress president Ahmed Patel and senior leaders of the Left parties including Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M), A.B. Bardhan and D. Raja of the CPI, Abani Roy of the RSP and Debabrata Biswas of the Forward Bloc. The Congress had earlier consulted other UPA parties.

The political level committee to be put in place will exam¬ine Left’s objections to the nuclear deal. A statement issued after the August 30 meeting said, “the operationalisation of the deal will take into account the committee’s findings.” Indica¬tions are that the committee will consist of 14 members, six from the Left and eight from the UPA.

The agreement reached with the Left has all the hallmarks of a temporary truce and face-saver. There was some deft handling of the crisis by the government which actually did not give the Left parties any commitment or “written assurance”, as demanded by them, to put the deal on hold, or to freeze “next-step”, deal-related talks with various international bodies.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, said the debate in Parliament on the deal is likely to take place on September 10-11.

After a meeting between the Congress top brass and the Left Front leadership at the Prime Minister’s residence, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee read out a brief, four-paragraph statement. It announced the decision to constitute a committee “in view of certain objections raised by the Left parties” on the 123 Indo-US nuclear agreement. The government’s statement makes use of a single, non-committal line to address Left concerns.

“The operationalisation of the deal will take into account the committee’s findings,” read Mukherjee, the government’s principal crisis-manager.

This sentence, despite being the operative part of the government-Left compromise formula, makes no commitment on pressing the ‘pause’ button as demanded by the Left parties.

The Left parties were satisfied that the statement read out by Mukherjee before journalists took into account their demand for a written assurance that is made public. Mukherjee declined to take questions on the statement.

Forward Bloc leader Debabrata Biswas, however, said: “We are very clear that the deal will not be operationalised till the committee gives its findings.”

The committee would look into certain aspects of the bilat¬eral agreement; the implications of the Hyde Act on the 123 Agreement and self-reliance in the nuclear sector; the implica¬tions of the nuclear agreement on foreign policy and security cooperation.

No time frame has been set for the committee to come up with its conclusions. The finalisation of the committee came after hectic consultations among the Congress Core Group and with the Left parties. The Congress Core Group met in the Prime Minister’s chamber in Parliament to firm up the draft modalities of the committee and its terms of reference. Sonia Gandhi attended the meeting.

Soon after, the Left parties, including the CPI(M), the CPI, the Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party, met and approved the proposed statement, ending a three-week impasse.

The stand-off between the Left parties and the UPA govern¬ment came after the Prime Minister was quoted by a newspaper as saying that the Left could withdraw support on the issue. The Left took the stand that the deal could not be operationalised till it was studied in all its ramifications, including its implications for India’s foreign policy.

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Text of statement

The following is the text of the statement read out by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee after a meeting of leaders of the Congress and Left parties at Prime Minister Manmo¬han Singh’s residence:

In view of certain objections raised by the Left parties on the Indo-U.S. bilateral agreement on nuclear cooperation, it has been decided to constitute a committee to go into these issues.

1. The composition of the committee will be announced short¬ly.

2. The committee will look into certain aspects of the bilateral agreement; the implications of the Hyde Act on the 123 Agreement and self-reliance in the nuclear sector; the implica¬tions of the nuclear agreement on foreign policy and security cooperation.

3. The committee will examine these issues. The operation¬alisation of the deal will take into account the committee’s findings.

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Differing interpretations

While the Left says that the truce of August 30 effectively means that the Government will not take further steps needed for operationalisation of the nuclear deal with the United States, the Government on its part said, the statement had not specifi¬cally said that it was not going ahead with the next steps on the deal. Informal discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on safeguards would continue though a formal agree¬ment would have to wait.

Emphasising the Government stand on August 31, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told mediapersons, “We never said the deal is on hold.” But he did not clarify whether the Government will go ahead with its negotiations with the IAEA and the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) for the implementation of the nuclear agreement.

While the Government maintained there was nothing in the UPA-Left’s statement which prevented it from pursuing the nego¬tiations, the Left parties maintained the statement is a vindica¬tion of their stand. CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan said, the UPA’s decision to set up a committee was an acceptance that the Left concerns were serious, adding that the statement is clear when it says, “the operationalisation of the deal will take into account the committee’s findings.”

The UPA and the Left parties have different perceptions of what is meant by the term “operationalisation”. While the ruling coalition believes that the deal will be operationalised only when the US Congress ratifies it, the Left parties are of the view that negotiations with the IAEA and NSG are tantamount to operationalising the deal.

“Operationalisation means when the deal is put into effect,” said Pranab Mukherjee, stating that talks with countries can either succeed or fail, but they cannot be implemented, thus suggesting that the deliberations with the NSG will continue.

Demand for JPC rejected

Referring to the BJP demand for a JPC, Mukherjee said the proposed committee is a UPA-Left panel and is not a government body, which is why the decision on its constitution was taken by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. All UPA partners were consulted on the formation of the committee, he said, adding that Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke personally to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.

No JPC, BJP moves privilege motion

The opposition disrupted proceedings in both Houses of Parliament on Friday, August 31, demanding that it should also be represented in the committee examining the nuclear deal. Mem¬bers of two major Opposition blocs, the NDA and the UNPA stalled proceedings over the deal.

The Government rejected the two major demands of the Opposi¬tion, setting up of a JPC to review the nuclear deal and with¬drawal of the high-powered UPA-Left committee to study different aspects of the 123 agreement.

External Affairs Minister and UPA trouble-shooter Pranab Mukherjee said in Kolkata on Sept. 1 that he was hopeful that the mechanism the government and the Left parties have decided to set up to address the Left’s misgivings over the Indo-US nuclear deal would “definitely find a way out.”

“Since the Parliament session is on I can’t speak on the issue before the media. But this much I can say that the mechan¬ism we have agreed to set up in consultation with the Left will definitely resolve the matter,” he said. Mukherjee said this in reply to reporters’ queries after attending a seminar on SAARC: Accelerating Cooperation Through Connectivity.

Both Mukherjee and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee underscored the need for combating terrorism.

The Chief Minister said terrorist forces are active in the region and their subversive acts can be thwarted only through concerted efforts by the SAARC countries. Mukherjee endorsed Bhattacharjee’s remark and said there should be “zero-tolerance” towards terrorism, cross-border movement of psychotropic sub¬stances and human trafficking. A meeting of the Home Ministers of the SAARC countries will soon take up the issues, he said.

Not a victory or defeat for any side : Karat

The CPI(M) on August 31 said the truce between the Left par¬ties and the Congress on the nuclear issue is not a victory or defeat for any side. It also said the Left parties ‘behaved re¬sponsibly’ during the crisis and that it did not precipitate it. “This is not a victory or defeat of any side,” said CPI(M) gener¬al secretary Prakash Karat when asked by reporters in Kolkata whether the Centre had got a reprieve following the truce with the Left parties.

He said a committee has been formed to go into the concerns raised by the Left parties and “let it do its work. Then we will see.” The party would closely study the functioning of the Com¬mittee, he added.

CPI(M) leaders in Parliament said in Delhi that the Left has behaved responsibly during the crisis. There was a crisis facing the nation and the Left did not precipitate it. “We never said stop this or scrap that. We only said allay our apprehensions,” party leader Mohd Salim told reporters.

Attacking the BJP for not consulting its partners to resolve issues during the erstwhile NDA rule, Salim’s party colleague Basudeb Acharia said the proposed UPA-Left committee to resolve issues connected with the Indo-US nuclear deal was not a govern¬ment panel but a political one.

Reacting to the BJP’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the matter, Acharia asserted that “never before has any international agreement been scrutinised by Parliament”.

Acharia said the Left and the UPA have been holding discus¬sions on a number of issues.

There has been a political mechanism in existence which has played a role in resolving these issues. “For example, the pen¬sion regulatory authority bill has not been brought so far owing to differences,” Acharia said, indicating that the proposed UPA-Left panel on the nuclear issue was another such political mechanism.

He attacked the saffron party for disrupting parliamentary proceedings on Friday on “flimsy ground” of seeking representa¬tion in a political committee.

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Parliament debate likely on Sept. 10, 11

Parliament is likely to debate the nuclear deal with the United States on Sept. 10 and 11. The debate will take place in the Lok Sabha on Sept. 10 and in the Rajya Sabha the next day.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi an¬nounced this on August 30 after meetings of the Business Advisory Committees of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

He said a majority of leaders in the BAC wanted Sept. 3 to be declared a “No Session” day, and the Speaker had agreed to that. Sept. 4 is a holiday on account of Krishna Janamashtmi.

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Congress steps up campaign for nuclear deal

Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi have stepped up their campaign to build support for the nuclear deal with the United States.

In a letter to Congress workers published in the latest issue of the party journal, Congress Sandesh, Sonia Gandhi con¬gratulated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Indian negotiators on hammering out a treaty that “satisfies” all conditions laid out before Parliament. She said the deal was in the country’s long term interest. Sonia Gandhi said, “India and the United States have signed the historic 123 Agreement that lifts decades-old embargo on nuclear trade with India. This will allow India to expand its energy sector to meet the growing demands of our economic growth and put an end to the power shortages that we are all familiar with.”

Sonia Gandhi emphasised that throughout the negotiations with the US, Parliament, the United Progressive Alliance, the Left parties and the Opposition parties had been kept informed. “We have negotiated with America keeping our national interest in the forefront and India’s nuclear defence programme has in no way been undermined.”

In an oblique reference to the frequent adjournments of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Sonia Gandhi expressed the hope that the Opposition parties would use Parliament to air their differences and “we will see less unnecessary adjournments that waste precious time and taxpayers’ money.”

India cannot afford to miss nuclear renaissance : PM

On his part, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh utilised his visit to Tarapore, in Maharashtra, on August 31 to list out reasons for going ahead with the nuclear deal with the United States. The foremost argument put forward by him was that the deal could enable the country to double its modest target of nuclear power to 40,000 mw by 2020.

Dr. Singh said: “This cooperation will not be dependent on any one country. We will source supplies from many countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), including the United States, Russia and France.” But to make the NSG adapt its guidelines to enable nuclear commerce with the country, an India-specific safeguards agreement had to be finalised with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“This will signal the end of our international isolation of the past few decades. India is now too important a country to remain outside the international mainstream in this critical area,” he said.

The Prime Minister was speaking at a function after dedicat¬ing to the nation two indigenous 540-MW pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR) fuelled by natural uranium.

Dr. Singh said: “We need to supplement our uranium supplies from elsewhere. We must take decisive steps to remove uncertain¬ties that result from shortfall in fuel supplies to avoid disrup¬tions in our nuclear power production.

“We need to pave the way to benefit from nuclear commerce without restrictions, gain access to cutting-edge technology and opportunities for our scientists to participate in international exchange of scientific ideas and technical know-how.”

Left to mobilise mass support against the deal

The Left Front in West Bengal took out an anti-imperialist peace rally in Kolkata on September 1, denouncing increasing American control over national affairs as evidenced in the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal and the upcoming joint naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal. Chairman of the Left Front Committee Biman Bose, speaking on the occasion, said, “We will never accept the nuclear deal if it compromises national security and the sover¬eignty of the country.”

Condemning the “hegemonic politics” that America indulged in, Bose said the experiences in Iraq, Afghanistan and the recent attempts to impose sanctions on Iran had shown that Ameri¬can imperialism could not do any good to people anywhere in the world.

Speaking out against American policing of the Bay of Bengal, Bose said a protest march against the multi-nation naval exercise to be held in Visakhapatnam would start from Kolkata on September 4.

He called for an independent foreign policy, pointing out that the shrinking budget in education and the crises in the country’s food reserve were caused by American policy dictates.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and other Left Front leaders set the rally in motion by releasing white pigeons. The rallyists denounced America’s “imperialist aggression” and “neo-colonial policies” through banners and tableaux.

Speaking a day earlier in Kolkata, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said on August 31 that his party will mobilise the people against India joining what he called the ‘US global democ¬racy enterprise.’ He said there would be a nationwide campaign from Sept. 4 to 15 against the nuclear deal and the quadrilateral naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal.

While ruling out the possibility of a mid-term poll, Karat warned the Congress against taking a decision on the nuclear deal in a hurry. “We understand how dangerous communalism is for the country. But the Congress should not misjudge us. For communal¬ism and imperialism are compatible,” Karat said.

Delivering the Naren Sen Memorial Lecture in Kolkata on August 31, Karat said, “Our opposition today to the Indo-US nuclear agreement and the overall strategic alliance with the US is carrying on the legacy of our freedom struggle and the fight against imperialism which is still relevant in 21st century India.”

“All through [for the past three years] we have kept the government going because of our political priorities to fight communalism. But the fight against imperialism is equally import¬ant as it [imperialism] only strengthens the right wing and communal forces.... So the basis of our opposition [to the nu¬clear deal] must be clearly understood”, Karat emphasised.

He recalled references by the Bush administration of the nuclear deal being a strategic gain for the U.S. “Why is the U.S., the most powerful imperialist nation, so keen to harness India as a reliable and potential ally?” he asked, suggesting that the purpose was three-fold - that of seeking political, economic and military collaboration with India. “This is not just a fight against nuclear cooperation [with the U.S.] which has far-reaching implications on our foreign policy but also the strategic alliance partnership with that country which affects our economic sovereignty and harms the interests of all sections of our working people.

“The CPI(M) and the Left will never accept this path for India. We are not going to be judged by history - as the Prime Minister says - as parties which facilitated the government to arrive at a harmful strategic alliance that is binding on India. We do not want to be a part of that. This is the heart of the political crisis in India,” he said.

No course correction by BJP : Advani

Ending the confusion in the BJP over the party’s stand on the India-US nuclear deal, leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani said on Wednesday, August 29, that the deal was unacceptable to the party. Addressing party MPs, he said the provisions of the deal had pushed the country into a relationship that was not a “strategic partnership with the United States”, as claimed by the Government, but “strategic subservience to Washington”, which the BJP can never accept.

Advani’s remarks came against the backdrop of speculation that the senior BJP leader and some others were not happy with the hardline posture against the deal. The speculation had gained momentum with his statement in Hyderabad on August 26 that the BJP will have no objection to the 123 agreement if the Gov¬ernment amended the Indian Atomic Energy Act to ensure strategic independence and non-hindrance in the reactor fuel supplies. Observers say that Hyderabad statement was perhaps meant to distance the BJP from the stand taken by the Left. The BJP obviously did not want to be seen on the same side as the Left as it would have hurt its core constituency, the middle class and people living in urban areas.

Advani put an end to the controversy by noting that the party’s statements had been “fully deliberated upon and approved by the senior-most leaders of the party under the guidance and in the presence of Atal Bihari Vajpayee”. He said that “these state¬ments, and those of his colleagues Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shour¬ie” were released to the media to “embody the party’s considered view on every aspect of the deal”.

Referring to his remarks published in sections of the media, Advani said that he had sought to emphasise that provisions of the Hyde Act militate against India’s sovereignty, in particular with regard to foreign policy. “When enforced, they will serious¬ly impair our nuclear weapons programme, and thereby jeopardise our strategic objectives,” he said.

His remarks would put an end to the view that Shourie and Sinha had led BJP into a cul de sac over the deal from which there was no scope of retreat or realignment. It was argued that this was akin to Left’s ‘militant and blind anti-Americanism.’

Ronen Sen issue referred to Privileges Committee

The issue of Indian Ambassador to the United States Ronen Sen describing critics of the Indo-US nuclear deal as “headless chickens,” has been referred to the Privileges Committee of the Lok Sabha. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee reportedly took the deci¬sion on Friday, August 31, ignoring the Government’s request to accept Sen’s unqualified apology in the matter.

The Privileges Committee, headed by Congress MP Kishore Chandra Deo, will examine the notices that seek to call Ronen Sen to the Bar of the Lok Sabha and censure him for lowering the dignity of Parliament. Two notices against Sen have been moved by the Left and the BJP. A decision on when the Ambassador is to be summoned may be taken on Wednesday, Sept. 5.

There is some dismay over the issue in Congress circles as party managers had hoped that the episode would blow over. The Speaker’s decision came as a setback to them. Members of the Privileges Committee are not likely to be very forgiving given that Ronen Sen had managed to raise the hackles of the majority in the House by his “headless chickens” interview and his attempt to show opponents of the deal as dimwits.

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Congress-BSP to gain in snap Lok Sabha polls

An opinion poll conducted by a TV news channel, NDTV, says that the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party will make gains while the BJP and the Left will suffer losses if snap Lok Sabha elections are held following the controversy over the nuclear deal. The Congress would gain 40 seats across the country while the BSP is expected to win an additional 23 seats if elections are held now.

While the BJP was expected to lose 22 seats, the Left par¬ties would lose 25 seats, the NDTV poll said.

Over 12,000 people from 120 constituencies were surveyed by the NDTV team, out of which 75 per cent of the respondents were from rural parts.

Among those polled, 56 per cent were aware of the nuclear deal, while 44 per cent were not aware of it.

Out of those who are aware of the deal, 60 per cent of the people want the India-U.S. nuclear deal to go ahead, the poll found.

Of the total respondents, 63 per cent said they trusted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and 65 per cent of those who backed Dr. Singh felt that he should not resign.

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