2 August 2005
Anticipating rough days ahead in Parliament, the Prime Minister's
Office on Tuesday night hosted a "technical briefing" for like-minded parliamentarians on
the nuances of Indo-US joint statement so that the Congress can take on the combined
might of the BJP and the Left parties during debates in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya
Sabha on controversial issues like nuclear cooperation.
The meeting was attended by 20-odd MPs including Anand Sharma, Jyotiraditya Scindia,
Milind Deora, Sachin Pilot, Ajay Maken, Rajeev Shukla, Rashid Alvi, Suresh Prabhu and
Lalit Suri. However, MPs from the BJP, CPI(M) or the CPI were conspicuous by their
absence. Samajwadi Party was represented by Shahid Siddiqui and the Biju Janata Dal
by BJ Panda.
Holding forth on the positive outcomes of the Prime Minister's US visit were defence
analyst K Subramanyam and former chairman of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board A
Gopalakrishnan. Also deputed to the meeting, held under the aegis of the Indo-US
Parliamentary Forum, was the Prime Minister's media adviser, Mr Sanjaya Baru.
The troika said the Indo-US joint statement was a welcome step, one that would have
significant results for India "if", they hastened to add, "the US Congress and the Nuclear
Suppliers Group endorse it". They were confident that the Congressional nod will come
through because one, the Republicans enjoyed a majority and two, there were
Democrats who supported India. Nevertheless India will lobby hard and utilise the
economic and political clout of the Indian dispora to mobilise opinion in its favour.
The MPs, in turn, asked questions about International Thermonuclear Experimental
Reactor (ITER) project, fallout of Indo-US cooperation on New Delhi's ties with countries
in the neighbourhood especially Pakistan and China. Some left as quickly as they had
come; others stayed on to probe the military aspects. None of the MPs were willing to
comment when asked whether they were convinced by the arguments put forth.
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