Affirming that it would not operationalise the Indo-US nuclear agreement before taking Parliament and the nation into confidence, the government on Wednesday stated that it would get back to the House after the IAEA negotiations, in the same way it had done after every step of the ongoing process.
Responding to the debate on the nuclear issue in the Lok Sabha, external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, however, rejected a demand from the Left for a categorical assurance stating that the deal will not be operationalised. ??When the IAEA negotiations get completed, we will again come to the House?? he said. He also reiterated that the government was bound by the 123 agreement and not the Hyde act.
The much awaited discussion that stretched for over six hours, however, put on record the UPA?s near isolation on the issue as Opposition NDA joined hands with Left and UNPA members in criticising it even as PM Manmohan Singh defended the deal saying it would not restrict India from conducting nuclear tests in the future.
CPI(M) member Rupchand Pal, who initiated the debate, also gave an insight into the recent U-turn by the Left when he said: ??We have allowed you to go to the IAEA to get a concrete proposal for uninterrupted fuel supply,?? suggesting that they had dropped their opposition to government negotiations with IAEA only after the promise that they would work to ensure continuous fuel supply even the pact getting scrapped.
Opposition leader LK Advani came down heavily on the government as he charged that the deal infringed on India?s sovereign right to test and made it a ?junior partner? of the US. He said that the BJP, if it came to power, would renegotiate the deal with the US. ??123 agreement as it stands today is unacceptable,?? he said.
Countering questions from the Left, Mukherjee maintained that India already had strategic relationships with several countries. ??So if we are going to have a strategic partnership with US, there should not be any problem.??
Pal asked the Centre to disclose the contents of ?secret talks? between former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh and former US Secretary of State Strobe Talbott.