Indian parliament paralysed over US N-agreement row
By Jawed Naqvi
NEW DELHI, Aug 16: Angry MPs, including the government’s key Left front allies, stalled India’s parliament on Thursday, accusing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of misleading the country over a controversial nuclear deal with the United States.
Opposition groups led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) planned to move a privilege motion against Dr Singh after a statement by the US State Department said the US would cancel the deal if India carried out a fresh nuclear test. Dr Singh says the deal would not curb India’s right to carry out nuclear tests if required in the future.
A small reprieve appeared to come from the Left front allies who joined the protest against the deal but indicated they were in no mood to pull down the government.
It was handed to Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee to do damage control for the government. But he ended up only adding to the confusion.
“India has the sovereign right to test and would do so if it is necessary in national interest,” he told parliament. He did not clarify the contradiction between his claim and the American statement. “There is nothing in the bilateral agreement that would tie the hands of a future government or legally constrain its options,” Mr Mukherjee insisted. “A decision to undertake a future nuclear test would be India’s sovereign decision, resting solely with the Government of India.”
BJP leader Yashwant Sinha rejected Mr Mukherjee’s statement and alleged that the prime minister had misled the country by claiming that the 123 Agreement would have no impact on New Delhi’s nuclear weapons programmes.
