Date:07/08/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/07/stories/2007080776661000.htm

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V.P. Singh for Parliament resolution on nuclear deal

Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI: The former Prime Minister, V.P. Singh, in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has sought a Parliamentary resolution before any definitive action is taken on the civil nuclear cooperation with the U.S., as the “matter is too serious to be left to the executive and the government of the day.”

Mr. Singh asked the Government to adequately address four considerations, “which do not seem to have been adequately taken care of in the 123 agreement.”

While pointing out that the agreement was binding on India for 40 years, Mr. Singh cautioned against any haste in agreeing to it under “extraneous considerations or pressure.” The four aspects that should be properly outlined by the Government are: keeping in mind the Enron debacle, the import of nuclear plants should be cost-effective and ensure cheap electric power supply; learning from the experience of Tarapur, India should have the right to stockpile nuclear fuel and reprocess it; this should neither delay nor jeopardise the indigenous thorium-based fast breeder programme; and India’s right to nuclear testing should neither be subject to foreign approval nor should the country be penalised if it exercised the option in future.

Energy security

Mr. Singh said energy security and the price that the country would pay for it need to be worked out with hard core data, in a transparent manner, before the 123 agreement was signed.

“The nation needs to be convinced about the most optimal and cost-effective incremental addition to the power capacity. It should be made very clear as to what per cent of our total power need will be satisfied by imported nuclear plants and how is it more cost-effective than imported coal or gas.”

He wanted to know whether there had been a serious examination of the possibility of expediting the possibility of expecting the thorium-based [of which there are vast reserves in India] option by allocating the atomic energy establishment with more resources and support.

Of equal importance were the implications of the agreement on the Iran-India gas pipeline project and the country’s closer cooperation with the China, Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. “The Hyde Act, which is the India-specific U.S. law today, is explicit with regard to Iran. Should we enter into an agreement that may or may not provide energy security, but on the other hand threatens energy-related agreements with our neighbours?”