Govt bats for its 'passport' to nuke trade

During nuclear debate in House, BJP, Left unmoved by PM, Pranab's reasoning

The UPA government today made a strong case for the Indo-US nuclear deal, hailing it as a "global passport" that will enable nuclear trade with other countries.

Replying to a long and intense debate in the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, "The prime minister couldn't sign the (nuclear) agreement with Russia as we need to go to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and the NSG (Nuclear Suppliers' Group) first. One I have this passport, I can have a choice. It is not necessary that I have to restrict myself to just one country."

Mukherjee said even now, many Indian entities were barred from taking part in international nuclear activities and the deal would help the government remove these restrictions. He tried to assure the Left that their concerns would be taken to the IAEA.

"India will seek three things from the IAEA "" assurance of fuel supply, right to create a strategic reserve of fuel and acceptance of our plan for separating civilian and strategic reactors".

While the BJP staged a walkout just before Mukherjee spoke, the Left maintained till the end that the government should not proceed further.

Mukherjee's prime target was Leader of Opposition LK Advani. Refuting allegations by Advani, he assured the House that Parliament would be consulted at every step.

As Advani tried to accuse the government of shifting from the policy of former prime minister late Indira Gandhi, Mukherjee gave examples to show that all previous Congress governments had pursued peaceful civilian nuclear programmes.

Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the deal would not curtail India's sovereign right to conduct another nuclear test.

Reacting to Advani's charge that it would be so, Singh said, "We have not committed anything more than the assurances your (NDA) government gave. We also maintain a unilateral moratorium on further nuclear tests. But if we need to do so, there is nothing in the agreement which prevents us from conducting further nuclear tests."

Predictably, the BJP and the Left slammed the deal. However, both carefully articulated their political differences with each other.

The Left was critical of the strategic alliance between India and the US while Advani favoured an Indo-US alliance but said the deal capped India's sovereign right to conduct nuclear tests. To put the Congress in a spot, Advani repeatedly praised Indira Gandhi's nuclear policy.

An aggressive Advani read out an interview of the prime minister in which he favoured a national consensus and questioned the haste with which the government was trying to push the deal. "When there is no consensus, why are you rushing into the deal?," he asked and claimed that the BJP would renegotiate the deal on coming to power.

Taking on the Left, a sarcastic Advani said, "There is no shift in our stand. But while the government wanted to save the deal, the CPI(M) wanted to save (itself in) West Bengal. You (the Left) don't want elections now, so don't deceive yourself and the country."

While both sides conceded that energy security was an important element of the deal, the BJP and the Left stressed different approaches.

"I'm sure this deal won't serve the purpose" (of meeting India's energy security requirements)," he said. The Left demanded a national policy on use of electricity and coal.

Taunting the BJP as "confused", CPI(M)'s Rupchand Pal criticised the government for pursuing a deal which "is not for India's benefit but is for the benefit of the US". The Left said the US was trying to rope in India to create an Asian NATO.

Even after six meetings of the UPA-Left committee on the nuclear deal, it was clear today that the Left hadn't budged an inch. Pal reiterated Left apprehensions on uninterrupted fuel supply and transfer of technology.

The Congress mostly fielded young faces like Jyotiraditya Scindia and Rajesh Pilot to defend the deal before Mukherjee gave his final reply.