The government on Thursday made it clear that there was no scope for renegotiation of the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement as was being sought by the Left.

Rejecting the Left contentions, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi said all concerns of the government’s outside allies would be explained in detail during the debate on the agreement in Parliament, next week.

“We have to address the genuine and serious concerns of our allies,” he said. The minister said talks with the Left are already on but admitted that the way things would develop would only be known after the CPM politburo meeting.

Referring to the statement made by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Lok Sabha on the issue, he said if necessary, the government would make further statements to allay the apprehensions of the Opposition and the Left parties. Mr Dasmunsi rejected outright, suggestions that the stability of the government might be at stake because of the political heat generated by the deal. “This government will last its full term, and will fulfil all the promises made in the National Common Minimum Programme. There is threat to the government and we are not worried at all,” he said.

He said the debate in Parliament would clear all apprehensions of the Left, adding that all MPs had the right to seek any clarification on the deal. “But there is no scope for renegotiation of the deal, and that should be clear,” he said.

PACK OF LIES: OPPOSITION
Pact guided by Hyde Act: BJP
New Delhi, DHNS: The main Opposition BJP on Thursday maintained that the Indo-US nuclear agreement is guided by the US national laws, including the India-specific Hyde Act which does not allow India to detonate any nuclear device, “not even a laboratory test”.

“China’s 123 nuclear agreement with the US says principal parties will not provoke respective internal laws,” said former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha, adding that “not national laws but international laws will apply in the implementation of the agreement in this case”. This privilege, he said, has not been accorded to India, he said.

Asked about the fate of the nuclear deal, Sinha claimed that it could not be implemented as “majority in Parliament are not in favour of the deal”.

“It would remain a dead letter,” he further claimed.

The current stand-off between the government and the Left, and the main Opposition on the other hand in the Parliament notwithstanding, a discussion may be allowed on the nuclear agreement in both the houses on Friday.
Charging Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with “misleading the country” on the nuclear deal, Sinha said while India does not have any national law with respect to 123 Indo-US nuclear energy deal, the US has at least three — US Atomic Energy Act 1954, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978 and the Hyde Act, which is completely India specific. He said Prime Minister’s statement in the Parliament earlier did not have any mention of the Hyde Act.

The BJP will move a breach of privilege motion in both the houses of Parliament against Prime Minister for “misleading” Parliament.

“The privilege notice will first be sent to the concerned party (the government) for eliciting their response,” sources in the party said, suggesting that the move will take time to get into motion.  

Asked about the Left reaction to the agreement, the former foreign minister pointed out that the Left backed the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. “Even friends of the government are finding it unpalatable,” he pointed out.
Sinha said the agreement prohibits India to even carry “sub-kilotonne laboratory test”.

Pointing to a slew of statements confirming “Opposition apprehensions” from Washington on the deal, he said while the US is “very transparent” on the various clauses applicable to India, the Indian government is hiding things.