Govt is entangled over nuclear deal: Left presses Manmohan govt for agreements.
You might recall for instance the photographs flooded with smiles when the present UPA government was joi
ned together in functional matrimony a little more than a thousand days ago. Such pictures aren’t news after 24 hours. But a divorce can make news every day. There are so many issues to deal with. Who keeps the house after the split? That is a tough one since the house would never have been stable without the willing consent of both parties.Before India can begin nuclear commerce with the rest of the world, it has two more stages to cross.
One, an India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Two, a nod from the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Negotiations at both places are in highly advanced stages.
Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar travels to Vienna in September to attend a scheduled IAEA meeting.
And the PM's special envoy on the deal Shyam Saran is currently touring major NSG countries including Russia, Germany and Brazil, to seek their support for an unconditional waiver for India to trade in N-goods.
The Left wants the government not to go ahead at NSG and IAEA. Technically, negotiations can perhaps be put on hold for a brief while. But the US administration will be seriously into election mode by end-2007, and as that time approaches, the pressure to seal the deal will intensify. And India does need energy desperately.Before India can begin nuclear commerce with the rest of the world, it has two more stages to cross.
One, an India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Two, a nod from the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Negotiations at both places are in highly advanced stages.
Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar travels to Vienna in September to attend a scheduled IAEA meeting.
And the PM's special envoy on the deal Shyam Saran is currently touring major NSG countries including Russia, Germany and Brazil, to seek their support for an unconditional waiver for India to trade in N-goods.
The Left wants the government not to go ahead at NSG and IAEA. Technically, negotiations can perhaps be put on hold for a brief while. But the US administration will be seriously into election mode by end-2007, and as that time approaches, the pressure to seal the deal will intensify. And India does need energy desperately.
“Till all the doubts are clarified and the implications of the Hyde Act evaluated, the government should not take the next steps with regard to negotiating the IAEA safeguards, which are to be in perpetuity, and proceed to get the guidelines from the Nuclear Suppliers Group,” general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Mr. Karat says.
He says the question is not whether it should be put to vote in Parliament or not. It is clear that a majority in Parliament is opposed to it.
He writes: “It may be difficult for ordinary people to grasp the implications of the nuclear agreement with all its technical aspects and intricacies. The supply of nuclear fuel, the fuel cycle, the enrichment and reprocessing technologies and the safeguards agreement are all not within the knowledge of lay people. Without going into the complex issues concerning nuclear cooperation, one way to understand and assess the agreement is to ask: does this agreement advance India’s interests, does it protect our capacity for an independent foreign policy and sovereignty? Is this an agreement only on nuclear cooperation or is it part of a wider agreement?”
The nuclear cooperation deal is only one part of the wide-ranging alliance that the UPA government has forged with the U.S. Prior to the joint statement of July 2005, it signed a 10-year Defence Framework Agreement. “It is evident that without the defence agreement, the Americans would not have agreed for the nuclear cooperation. This is part of a quid pro quo,” he writes.
posted by Pradeep @ 10:00 PM,
