New Delhi
4 December 2007
The United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) on Tuesday joined
the Left parties and the Opposition BJP-led NDA in asking the Manmohan Singh
Government not to proceed further with the India-United States nuclear deal.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) came out openly against
the the proposed India-United States civil nuclear cooperation agreement, dispelling
speculation that the UNPA has diluted its opposition to the nuclear deal.
The government must be congratulated for bringing the SP, BJP and the Left together on
the same side of the divide, Amar Singh of SP said mockingly. "We are speaking in one
voice." he added, reminding the government of the sense of the House.
For their part, the Left parties reiterated their consistent opposition to the deal. The
government must reconsider and proceed any further to operationalise the nuclear deal,
Sitaram Yechury of CPI(M) said.
Yashwant Sinha of the BJP, in turn, reminded the government that the NDA will want to
renegotiate the nuclear deal if it comes to power. "The main issue is credible minimum
deterrent and not minimum credible deterrent," he said.
Digvijay Singh of Janata Dal (United) said that the country is bigger than individuals or
political parties and the Prime Minister's stature would increase, not diminish, if he
takes note of the sense of the House to reject the nuclear pact.
MV Mysura Reddy of the TDP cautioned the Centre that operationalising the deal will
allow the US to keep a tab on the Indian security and strategic establishments, which will
have repercussions on the future of the country.
V Maitreyan of AIADMK said that the 123 agreement is not between equals and India will
run the risk of becoming a subordinate ally of the US. "The US is openly interfering in our
affairs ... imagine what will happen if we sign the deal," he said.
Congress's ally, the DMK, supported the deal but with a caveat. DMK patriarch and Tamil
Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi cautioned the government
against relying too much on the US.
She wanted an assurance that the government will not restrict sourcing nuclear
technology from the US alone and it will develop ties with other countries so that nuclear
fuel and technology can be procured from multiple sources.
Ambeth Rajan (BSP) said that the government should have taken the nation and
Parliament into confidence. "If Congress does not agree to this, we will have full freedom
to choose our course of action," he said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervened in the debate on more than two occasions,
to clarify his position on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and why an agreement
for procuring four nuclear reactors from Russia did not materialise.
Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee sat through the afternoon. He and his
deputy, Anand Sharma, were seen consulting Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and
Prime Minister's Special Envoy Shyam Saran on a few occasions.
The debate was disrupted for several minutes when the UNPA, the NDA and the Left
objected to Mr Ram Jethmalani, a nominated member, exceeding the time allotted to
him. They also held up the proceedings for some of his caustic remarks.
The lawyer turned politician said that the nuclear deal should be pursued if only because
India and the US are democracies and the US was one of only two countries to come to
India's rescue after China invaded in 1962.
Likening the nuclear deal to the smile of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Jethmalani said
that the BJP's demand for renegotiating the deal is like asking for removing Mona Lisa's
smile from the masterpiece.
Another lawyer, Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress, maintained that the 123
Agreement is the last expression of sovereign will of the US and it will therefore prevail
over the Hyde Act. "It is a good deal ... by a good prime minister," he said.
Dwelling on the US Constitutional law and procedures, Singhvi reasoned that nothing in
the text of the 123 Agreement prevents India from conducting a nuclear test in future.
"One should not be looking a gift horse in the mouth," he added.
Incidentally, American and Indian corporate honchos got together on the afternoon of the
debate to felicitate US Ambassador to India David C Mulford for his exemplary service to
strengthen the India-US bilateral relations.
Barely an hour before the debate began in the Rajya Sabha, the US envoy said at a
private function held in a hotel that Washington continues to encourage New Delhi to
move forward on the nuclear deal.
The nuclear deal is good for India, good for the world and good for the US, Mulford said
at the function hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in India. He added that the
US accords "highest priority" to its relationship with India.
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