BJP wants govt to clarify on Burns remark

The BJP has demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee come clean on the Hyde Act and the 123 Agreement. The BJP demand comes close on the heels of former under secretary of state of political affairs, Nicholas Burns��� statement that the 123 is absolutely consistent with the controversial Hyde Act and that US can terminate the pact if India conducted atomic tests.

The party said that Mr Burns��� comments that the Hyde Act was binding on India, only serves to confirm the BJP���s fear on the undesirability of the current Indo-US agreement .

The BJP has consistently maintained that while it is in favour of friendly relations with the United States, including a nuclear deal, it did not support the deal worked out by the Manmohan Singh government . The reason being that the 123 Agreement, which must be read in conjunction with the Hyde Act, hampered India���s strategic nuclear programme.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and other proponents of the deal, have consistently maintained that the Hyde Act was a US domestic law that had to be adopted to enable the nuclear pact between the two nations.

Mr Burns was one of the architects of the Indo-US nuclear deal. During a panel debate on the deal at the Brookings Institute, Mr Burns said that the Washington has in place ���the right measures to protect��� its interests by retaining the right to terminate the agreement.