It’s too late to rescue the Indo-US nuclear deal, but the BJP considers India and US as natural allies, Leader of Opposition L K Advani told US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates.

Gates returned “happy and pleased”, after realising that the BJP’s opposition to the deal does not mark any change in the party’s stand towards the US, party sources told The Indian Express.

Advani told Gates that his party considered the deal as India’s co-option into the nuclear non-proliferation regime, which all parties have been opposing for long. The BJP leader outlined in detail the party’s opposition to the deal, but emphasised that the “biggest and strongest democracies of the world are natural allies”. He told Gates that India’s drift towards the USSR during the Cold War was a response to the American support to Pakistan, but in the post-Cold War scenario, things have moved to the “natural course”.

Advani said that neither side should be perturbed about the stalemate over the nuclear deal or any one particular issue. The BJP leader also told the US official that the fate of the deal should also be viewed in terms of the nature of the ruling alliance. Gates asked Advani whether the situation could be rectified. Advani is learnt to have told him it was “too late”.

BJP sources said the Americans were anxious to find out whether there is a change in the party’s attitude towards the US, more than focusing on the nuclear deal. Advani reassured the US by recalling the paradigm shift that happened in Indo-US relations during the BJP regime and underlined his party’s commitment towards “an enduring relationship, as equal partners”.

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