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Politics starts over nuclear deal

	August 06, 2007

While the Manmohan Singh Government and its functionaries are congratulating themselves over the civilian nuclear deal with the United States, the BJP has described the 123 agreement as an assault on the country’s nuclear sovereignty,



The Congress has hailed the 123 agreement saying it is the best possible deal available in the given circumstances and is in the national interest. Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi, compli¬menting the Prime Minister on keeping his abiding faith in work¬ing out the deal, said the text was all the more momentous as India got it through without compromising its stand on the nu¬clear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and more importantly by resisting the known US desire to put India’s 1998-99 declaration of a unilateral moratorium on future nuclear tests as a binding legal commitment in the deal. The party asked the critics to conduct an objective debate on the issue in a true democratic spirit.



“The Congress would like to convey its appreciation to the Prime Minister for keeping his abiding faith unshakeable despite several elements in the Opposition casting doubts on the benefits of the deal. The successful negotiations also mean India has got a unique status, the only country in the world which rightly insists on not signing the NPT and it is now virtually recog¬nised as a nuclear power,” Singhvi said.



With an eye on BJP leaders linking the deal to India’s right to conduct future nuclear tests, Singhvi was eager to try and score a point on that front too. “It is a matter of fact that in Sept. 1998 and again in Sept. 1999, then Prime Minister Vajpayee and thereafter the then Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh categorically made statements on the floor of the UN General Assembly about a unilateral moratorium by India on future test¬ing. I am making no comment, but repeating the statements made. However, the statement was sought to be converted by the US into a legally-binding commitment in the text of the agreement which you have today. Even that was not allowed to be done by the Indian negotiators and it is a fact of life.”



Singhvi also complimented Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s role in getting the UPA allies on board as well as all those who finalised the negotiations in Washington.





No national consensus on deal : BJP



On the other hand, the BJP has said that the agreement as finalised was unacceptable and it would seek a review of the agreement when it comes to power. An eight-page statement issued by former Ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie said that in the party’s view, the deal constituted an assault on the coun¬try’s nuclear sovereignty and foreign policy. The statement issued after a meeting of BJP leaders at former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s residence on August 3, demanded that the matter be referred to a joint parliamentary committee so that the text of the agreement is examined in detail. The party said that after the JPC submits its report, the government should seek Parliament’s approval for the agreement.



While acknowledging that under India’s Constitution, the agreement could be brought into effect after Cabinet approval - parliamentary approval is not needed - Sinha went on to say the BJP would like the Constitution to be amended to bind all future governments and ensure that all agreements that affect the coun¬try’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national security shall be ratified by Parliament.



Depending on what the stance of the Left parties was, Sinha said the BJP would be willing to cooperate with them and with the parties of the United National Progressive Alliance on this issue in Parliament. He said he feared the Left would find “some Hege¬lian dialectic to support the deal.”



At the very outset of a press conference where the statement was released, Sinha said that the text of the agreement was discussed in detail at the meeting at the residence of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Friday evening. Even so, the present response of the party was its “preliminary” reaction as it would continue to study the text word by word, clause by clause.





Left to firm up stand tomorrow



In the meantime, the Left parties have been holding discus¬sions with experts associated with atomic energy and related matters on various aspects of the 123 agreement. The Left par¬ties would be meeting in New Delhi tomorrow, August 7, to firm up their common stand on the deal after which they are expected to meet the Prime Minister to discuss the issue.



CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said on August 3 : “The text has just been released. We will not say anything before studying it thoroughly.” Approached by mediapersons, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan said, “we will go through the 17-Article document, read between the lines, see the fine print and then give our views. We have to take the opinion of scientific experts also.”





UNPA to oppose nuclear deal



The United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), on its part, has criticised the India-US nuclear deal and said it would result in mortgaging India’s sovereignty. Samajwadi Party gener¬al secretary Amar Singh said in New Delhi on July 31 that the UNPA would oppose the deal in the coming session of Parliament. All leaders of the Third Front would meet in New Delhi on the eve of the Monsoon session of Parliament on August 9 and chalk out a strategy.



“The BJP has failed to provide an effective opposition to the UPA government. Both the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the UPA are pro-US. The UNPA will put up a united front against the anti-people policies of the Government in Parliament,” said Amar Singh.



Demanding the resignation of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy over police firing on innocent people at Khammam, he called upon the Left parties to bring pressure on the UPA government at the Centre to dismiss the state government.



Singh criticised the Congress central leadership for not condemning the incident and giving a “clean chit” to the state government.





Supreme Court refuses to entertain plea against nuclear deal



On Friday, August 3, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea that said the proposed agreement on the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal must be approved by Parliament observing that the country was not devoid of proper advice on the serious matter.



A Bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan said, “It (the nuclear deal) is not a minor but a serious matter and the country is not lacking in proper advice. We cannot give a direction that it (the agreement) has to be put before Parliament for approval,” said the court allowing a senior advocate P.S. Mishra to withdraw the petition challenging the deal.



The court said the Government must have taken the advice of several scientists and disagreed with the petitioners that many suggestions were ignored. “You can wait till the matter is raised before Parliament”, the Bench said. When Mishra submitted that an observation be given to that effect, the Bench declined, saying “there are luminaries like the Prime Minister, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and the Speaker to decide on it.”



The court was hearing a PIL moved by Bhopal-based social activist Anil Chawla and others contending that the nuke deal would jeopardise India’s sovereignty and the country’s nuclear weapons development programme.