NEW DELHI, Aug 30: In an about turn on its stand so far, the Indian government on Thursday announced a high-level committee that would vet a controversial nuclear deal with the United States before it is “operationalised”. The move is seen as a concession to communist-led opponents of the so-called 123 Agreement.
“The operationalisation of the deal will take into account the committee’s findings,” Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced after a meeting of the ruling Congress and Left parties brought an end to a three-week stand-off that had threatened Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition government.
The composition of the committee is yet to be announced, but it is expected to include Prime Minister Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and all top communist leaders.
Though Mukherjee did not take any questions after the 30-minute meeting at the prime minister’s residence, the Left leaders said the statement made it clear that the government would not go ahead with the deal till the committee’s findings are known.
Ever since the details of the 123 Agreement were made public, the Left parties have been demanding a detailed discussion on the issue while the government maintained that there was no going back.
Simmering anger were precipitated when Dr Singh dared the Left parties to withdraw support to the government on the issue. The Left hit back, warning of serious consequences for the government if it went ahead with the deal. The statement by Mukherjee said that in view of the objections raised by the Left parties on the Indo-US bilateral agreement on nuclear cooperation, it had been decided to constitute a committee to go into the matter.
A majority of Indian MPs, including those from the right wing BJP, opposes the deal. Most of the differences centre around last year’s Hyde Act passed by the US Congress, which ties down India to American foreign policy objectives concerning Iran.
Under Indian laws, its parliament is not required to endorse foreign treaties or agreements. This is seen as anomalous because Dr Singh has never been an elected member of the Lok Sabha, house of the people, where the deal faces stiff opposition from MPs who better represent their constituencies.