India reserves right to nuclear tests: Govt
Meanwhile, US placed a revised draft waiver before the NSG which is meeting to consider the India-specific proposal. Nuclear Deal: Fineprint
By Agencies |
NEW DELHI: The UPA government has rejected the BJP���s charges that it surrendered its right to conduct nuclear tests to the US.
Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said India reserved its right to nuclear tests under the 123 agreement.
BJP charges are preposterous, the Congress leader said.
The government was forced to issue this clarification after details of the secret letter sent by the Bush administration to the US Congress were revealed.
First BJP attacked the government, and then the Congress party's new found supporter, the Samajwadi party said it was in a dilemma over the new developments in the nuclear deal.
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Reacting to the latest developments on the nuke deal, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said he is in a ' duvidha ' (dilemma) as the letter being reported by the media is saying something else and the Congress party's Pranab Mukherjee has said something. "I will study this properly before I can react", Mulayam said. The Congress, however, got into the damage control mode in a jiffy, and sought to allay his fears and tried to reassure him that there was nothing in the latest development that is not already known.
Earlier, the BJP accused the Prime Minister of ���misleading��� Parliament and the country on the nuclear deal issue.
"The Manmohan Singh government has no business to continue in office and should leave immediately," senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha told a press conference here.
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The former external affairs minister said in view of the "gross breach" of privilege of both the Houses of Parliament, an immediate session should be convened "within the shortest possible time" to enable BJP to move a privilege motion against the Prime Minister if the UPA did not quit.
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The BJP made the demands following of the disclosure of a secret letter on Wednesday, sent by the Bush administration to US Congress that the pact would be off if India conducted a nuclear test. Sinha said the government's statement in Parliament on the nuclear deal and what the US administration has told its lawmakers were "diametrically opposed to each other".
The BJP leader said if there were so many differences on the interpretation of the deal right from the beginning, then various problems would crop up in the later stages.
"This is a sure recipe for spoiling the Indo-US bilateral relations," he said, adding that BJP's "worst fears" had come true.
On the Hyde Act, Sinha said it is not only relevant but it is binding on the agreement.
"It is binding on the country. We cannot escape the rigours of the Hyde Act," he said.
The correspondence, which was made public by the US, vindicate BJP's stand, he said, adding "the position of India and US is poles apart"
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BJP leader Arun Shourie said "the lies of the government and the Prime Minister in person have been nailed. "It is a blot on us that we have to rely on disclosure by some other people rather from the government here. Once again the falsehood of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been exposed," he said.
Shourie said there is a huge difference between what the government here is saying and what the United States administration is saying.
He also claimed that the United States has clearly said that if India conducts nuclear tests, it will terminate the agreement.
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"Not only that but they have said they can also terminate the agreement on other grounds. Testing is just one of the items," he said. India has so far been claiming that the deal would not constrain the country's right to nuclear tests and would provide an uninterrupted supply of fuel to India's nuclear reactors. In August 2007, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had told Parliament, ���The agreement does not in any way affect India's right to undertake future nuclear tests, if it is necessary.���
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