Nov 29: Mutual consensus on the hotly debated “Indo-US nuclear issue” is still a hard nut to crack for the congress led UPA government.
Keeping options open for his party main opposition BJP leader L K Advani laid fresh assault on the congress saying that if the BJP-led NDA was given mandate, it would either re-negotiate the Indo-US civil nuclear deal or drop it as it was detrimental to the long term national interests.
“If we are given a mandate, we will re-negotiate the deal and delete all adverse clauses or even drop it,” Advani said, while speaking at a debate in the Lok Sabha.
“There is no consensus on the deal, but still you are rushing into the deal. If you seriously want to go further into the “deal-direction”, think of ways to re-negotiate the deal,” said the saffron leader L K Advani. Further adding that, “we can move forward only on the basis of broad national consensus.” Since the deal in the present form is not acceptable to the nation.
Continuing his belligerent attitude he also led an open assault on the congress president Sonia Gandhi saying that her recitation to the opponents of the deal “as enemies of congress and India’s development” is completely unconstitutional. “We are political adversaries and do not expect such language”, he said.
Advani said, "The government wants to bachao the deal, the Left wants to bachao Bengal." He said this has sent people wondering whether the Left and Congress were negotiating when to go to polls.
It is just out of the imagination why congress rushing into the deal, pointing out to the section 106 of the Hyde Act that barred India from future nuclear tests and provided for punitive action, including the US’ right to revoke the reactors.
''Can any self respecting country allow another country to take back the reactors already supplied,'' he asked, and said ''former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and A B Vajpayee would never have done anything that would infringe on the sovereignty of the nation.'' In this context, Advani said it was Indira Gandhi and Vajpayee who had made the country proud by conducting nuclear tests Pokhran-I and II.
Replying on the repeated pressure of the Left and NDA on Hyde Act compromising India’s strategic sovereignty and the Act’s supremacy over 123 Agreement, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said it was for the US to deal with Hyde Act, and that the 123 text clearly talked about primacy of international law and Vienna Congress.
BJP’s objections of the deal:
First, national laws of the two countries will govern the implementation of the agreement; hence the provisions of the Hyde Act of 2006 apply.
Secondly, the reference to “aspects of the associated nuclear cycle” implies that the agreement does not cover the full nuclear cycle; provisions for transfer of sensitive nuclear technology, heavy water production technology, and major critical components should have been covered by the agreement but have not been covered.
The U.S. right of end-use verification could mean American inspectors freely roaming India’s nuclear installations.
Moreover, fuel supply assurances were vague and futuristic; there would be safeguards in perpetuity even after the termination of the agreement as long as any imported material, equipment or its by-product remains on Indian soil.
And finally, India was being forced to accept what was essentially a bilateral Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
What is 123 Agreement?
Section 123 of the United States Atomic Energy Act of 1954, titled “Cooperation with other Nations”, establishes an agreement for cooperation as a prerequisite for nuclear deals between the US and any other nation. Such an agreement is called 123 Agreement.
The U.S. has entered into roughly twenty-five 123 Agreements with various countries till now.
Morocco , Ukraine, Romania, Japan, Euratom (European Atomic Energy Community, composed of the members of the European Nations), China, Switzerland and India (draft completed, requires signatures from U.S. and India).
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