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Indo-US nuclear deal : Lok Sabha discussion today |
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The Lok Sabha, the Lower House of Parliament, is scheduled to discuss the latest developments in the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal in the midst of calls from the Left parties, which are supporting the Manmohan Singh Government from outside, and the Opposition BJP for scrapping the nuclear talks with the United States as they consider the nuclear waiver as passed by the US Congress to be aimed at capping, rolling back and eventually eliminating India’s nuclear weapons capability.
Last week External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee made a statement in Parliament on December 12 seeking to dispel misgivings about the enabling US law on the Indo-US nuclear deal. But he failed to allay the concerns of the Left and the BJP which stuck to their position that the US legislation compromised the country’s interests.
In a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Pranab Mukherjee conceded that the US law contained certain extraneous and prescriptive provisions, but claimed that the problem will be ironed out in the bilateral 123 agreement that will make the deal operational. He said the Bush Administration has categorically assured New Delhi that the legislation passed by the US Congress enables Washington to fulfil all commitments made to India in the July 18, 2005 and March 2, 2006 joint statements.
Dismissing the demands made by the BJP and the CPI(M) for rejecting the US law and for freezing the negotiations with the US administration, Mukherjee said the Government expects the July 18 and March 2 joint statements to be reflected in the 123 agreement. He reiterated that India’s strategic programme remains outside the purview of the discussions with the United States. Mukherjee further said that the conduct of foreign policy, determined solely by our national interests, is our sovereign right.
The Prime Minister gave a similar assurance to CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury who met him in New Delhi on December 12. He said the final bilateral agreement between India and the United States would not violate any of his August 17 assurances given to Parliament. Yechury was not convinced and repeated his party’s stand that the US law had completely violated Dr. Manmohan Singh’s August 17 statement.
The Congress Working Committee which met in New Delhi last week endorsed the Government’s negotiations with the US to finalise the civilian nuclear deal. The Congress is now mounting efforts to bring around the Left parties on the nuclear issue, as without their support, the Government may not be able to change Indian laws in line with the agreement to be reached with the United States. The Left parties wanted the Prime Minister to reply to the debate on the nuclear issue in both Houses of Parliament.
Discontinue talks with US : CPI(M)
Taking a tough line, the CPI(M) politburo at its meeting in New Delhi on December 11 asked the Manmohan Singh Government to discontinue talks with the George Bush administration as the law passed by the US Congress contradicted the assurances given by the Prime Minister to Parliament.
Releasing the politburo statement on the issue, party general secretary Prakash Karat said, “The US law negates the most significant, if not all, assurances given by the Prime Minister to Parliament. Thus further negotiations on this score must not proceed.”
The BJP, on its part said, that it would favour a unanimous resolution expressing the sense of Parliament reiterating India’s sovereign and autonomous nuclear weapons programme.
For the record, both the BJP and the CPI(M) refrained from strengthening an impression that they could unite in their opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal. Prakash Karat said, “we have clear differences with the BJP on the issue.”
The BJP has demanded that the Government reject the law passed by the US Congress instead of accepting what the party called “humiliating conditionalities” contained in it. The party said on Dec. 10 that the conditionalities imposed on India by the US legislation are worse than those in the Nuclear non-proliferation Preaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). All India Anna DMK general secretary Jayalalithaa joined the opponents of the nuclear deal on Thursday, Dec. 14, when she said that it would undermine the sovereignty of the country.
In the meantime, eminent nuclear scientists and former heads of the Atomic Energy Commission have said that India must not directly or indirectly concede its right to conduct nuclear weapons tests if found necessary to strengthen our minimum deterrence. They expressed this view at a meeting held in Mumbai on December 15. Those who attended the meeting included former Chairmen of the Atomic Energy Commission, Dr. Homi N. Sethna, Dr. P.K. Iyengar and Dr. M.R. Srinivasan.
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