National

Left to oppose nuclear deal

Arunkumar Bhatt

MUMBAI: The Left parties will strongly oppose the India-U.S. nuclear deal in the budget session of Parliament, according to national secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and MP, Sudhakar Reddy.

Mr. Reddy told a meeting at the CPI office here on Wednesday that the country did not need the deal and foreign supply of uranium. "India has enough uranium to last 10 to 15 years and this time could be used for prospecting for new deposits of the nuclear material," he said.

In his view the UPA Government had a hidden purpose of befriending the United States. "Behind the India-U.S. nuclear deal is the Government's desire to befriend the U.S. and take its support for getting a permanent seat in the United Nation's Security Council but this is not going to work," Mr. Reddy warned. He asked the Government to follow the example of China which secured the permanent seat replacing Taiwan despite U.S. opposition.

Mr. Reddy said that of five lakh suicides committed in the country, 1.4 lakh were by farmers because agriculture was in a crisis. The Government was ignoring the suggestions made by the Opposition and farmers' bodies pleading for fresh credit and remunerative prices for the farmers. He said the package worth Rs.3,200 crore for the farmers in distress took care of only the interests on their loan and was not sufficient.

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