Even after the second meeting of the UPA-Left mechanism, the government and the Left parties found no common grounds to reach at an agreement on the impact of the Hyde Act on the Indo-US nuclear deal. But, in an effort to buy some time before the imminent mid-term polls, both of them have agreed to continue the talks and meet again on October 5.
During the meeting, the Left parties gave a rejoinder to government saying that they are not convinced by the government’s claims that the Hyde Act has no relevance. The 12-page rejoinder reiterated their position on the whole issue.
Seeking an expansion in the agenda, the Left argued that certain clauses of the US Nuclear Energy Act,1954 would also be harmful to India if the 123 agreement was operationalised and this Act should also be brought under the purview of the mechanism. They maintained that the government could not substantiate its argument that the nuclear pact is not binding with the Hyde Act.
Meanwhile, the Left were assured by the government that it is not going to discuss India-specific safeguards in the general council of the IAEA, started at Vienna on Tuesday. In the meantime, in a move that had invited the wrath from the Left circles, US ambassador to India David Mulford has asked the country to expedite the process of putting the deal into operation.
However, questioning the government’s argument that deal is better than that of China, the Left said there were more safeguards in China’s agreement regarding the development of indigenous nuclear research and fuel separation. CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat did most the talking for the Left in the meeting. “We have covered some grounds on the detailed aspects of the Hyde Act. The talks will continue. We told the government that it did not incorporate Article 27 of the Vienna agreement for international treaties that internal laws are not applicable while signing pacts with two countries,” a senior Left leader said after the meeting. However, the government led by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and science and technology minister Kapil Sibal countered these views. The government is learnt to have said in the meeting that once the US Congress adopts the agreement it automatically becomes a law and then the Hyde Act would become irrelevant. The government also argued that China is a “different case.” “In China, the context is different. It is a signatory in the NPT. And we are not,” a minister told the Left leaders in the meeting.
The third meeting of the committee will be held on October 5. “The discussions were constructive and will continue at the next meeting of the committee,” Mukherjee said after the meeting. However, the Left had a different take. “The talks were constructive in the sense that we agreed to disagree,” said RSP leader TJ Chandrachoodan.