US has shifted N-deal goalposts, says CPM in note to others; facts otherwise

NEW DELHI, JULY 23: Linking the Indo-US nuclear deal to the question of an independent foreign policy, the CPM is attempting to get other political parties to express themselves on the issue and enable a political consensus in Parliament by circulating a note that says talks in the US Congress on the agreement were going against the assurances given by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Parliament.

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said objections to the Indo-US nuclear deal were “no longer a party issue” and it was necessary for Parliament to express itself on the deal because the US had “resiled” on its part of the agreement and shifted the goalposts.

“The Indian Government should be bound by what is decided by Parliament based on what the Prime Minister had said (on the issues of reciprocity and sequencing). We only want the Indian government to stick to the Prime Minister’s statement.”

A note to this effect (prepared by the CPM on the nuclear deal) would be submitted to political parties, including the Congress, Karat said, adding he believed that the issues raised by the CPM had wide political support.

He said it was not too late to pull out of the deal as the final agreement would happen only after the legislation was approved by the US Congress, India signed the additional protocol with the IAEA and the Indian Atomic Energy Act was amended.

Karat raised concerns on locking India’s foreign policy to US interests, and signing an agreement that far from giving India an advantage to develop nuclear technology actually put it in an “opposite” situation.

But a reality check of the issues raised by the CPI(M) shows there is no clash between the steps taken by the Government in continuing negotiations with the US to take the deal forward, and India being able to have an independent foreign policy. Given below is a list of concerns raised by the CPI(M) and a reality check on them:

• The two Bills in the US Congress have provisions that seek to lock India’s foreign policy to US requirements and subject its scientific and development capabilities to intrusive inspections by the IAEA and US inspectors.

Reality Check: What is happening in the US, is part of the Congress resolution that is not binding on the US Administration or the Indian government. Stiff conditions were placed before China while giving it MFN status on restoration of democracy, but it did not prevent China from becoming the US’s largest trading partner.

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