NSG meet begins amid controversy in India

The 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group's two-day crucial meeting in Vienna over granting waiver to India—that would facilitate India to participate in global nuclear commerce—will kick off on Thursday amid controversy sparked after leaking of a 'secret letter' that President George Bush's administration had written to US Congress.

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded instant resignation from the UPA government for misleading the Parliament and the nation on the Indo-US nuclear deal. It charged the government for breaching the privilege of Parliament.

Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha addressing a press conference here said: "If these disclosures had been revealed before July 22, 2008, the Manmohan Singh government would have lost the trust vote. So, the UPA government has no business to continue in office and should leave immediately.”

The BJP leader also demanded immediate convening of the session to enable BJP to move a privilege motion against the Prime Minister.

Soon, after revelations of the confidential letter in the US media, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last night immediately called the emergency meeting of the Congress Working Committee where he talked on the issue with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and called on the India's ambassador to US Ronen Sen.

Dr. Singh told in the meeting that we have the right to test, and the US has the right to react. Thwarting doubt aside, New Delhi maintained that there is no change in its stand on the issue of nuclear testing. It also said that India would no longer be tied to the agreement if conditions were attached to the waiver-draft. New Delhi, however, refused to be drawn into a controversy over its agreement on civil nuclear cooperation with the US after revelation of the secret document.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson, Navtej Sarna addressing the media said: “India's position on the nuclear deal is well known. The content of the letter is part of the internal correspondence between different branches of US government.”

“We will be guided solely by the terms of the bilateral agreement between India and the United States, the India Specific Safeguards Agreement and the clean waiver from the NSG, which we hope will be forthcoming in the meeting of the NSG on September 4-5, 2008,” he further added.

The 26-page secret document that leaked to the media yesterday contains an assertion by the Bush Administration that its assurances of nuclear supplies to India are not meant to insulate it against the consequence of a nuclear test.

It is also written in the letter that the US administration had discretion to disrupt nuclear fuel supplies to India swiftly and the supply assurances made by the United States are not legally binding, but simply a commitment made by President Bush.

Besides, the US can urge India to return the items transferred from it comprising fresh fuel. The US has the discretion to nullify the agreement on one year's written notice.

The letter is paradoxical to what Manmohan Singh led UPA government has been maintaining that India's testing of nuclear weapons in future will not interrupt the supply of nuclear fuel under the nuclear agreement.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year in August had said: "The agreement does not in any way affect India's right to undertake future nuclear tests, if it is necessary.”

Far from these apprehensions and controversies, the NSG countries have been convened to participate in two-day meeting in Vienna to consider waiver for India under the amended draft.

The last meeting of the 45-member NSG nations on August 21-22 was ended inconclusively because of objections raised by some countries—particularly, New Zealand, Austria, Ireland, Switzerland—asking for inclusion of more conditionalities upon India in the wake of nuclear test.