Date:19/08/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/19/stories/2007081961920100.htm

Front Page

Don’t go ahead with nuclear deal: CPI(M)

Special Correspondent & PTI

Karat cites adverse effects for foreign policy, sovereignty & economic interests and indicates it is for Congress to decide what next

— Photo: Kamal Narang

Strong opposition: CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat explains at a New Delhi press conference why the 123 agreement with the United States should not be operationalised.

NEW DELHI: The crisis for the United Progressive Alliance government over the Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear deal deepened on Saturday, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanding that the government should not proceed even a step further with the 123 agreement.

The party on whose support the government depends for its survival cited the “widespread opposition” to the agreement and the fact that “a majority in Parliament do not support” it.

It said the matter, “which will have serious consequences for the government and the people,” was for the Congress leadership to decide.

The party’s view, finalised at the end of a two-day Polit Bureau meeting, was conveyed to the Congress leadership — Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee — by CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat and Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury, M.P., at a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Race Course Road residence.

After the meeting, Mr. Karat addressed a crowded press conference.

He read out the one- page resolution adopted unanimously by the Polit Bureau.

Asked whether the Left parties would withdraw support, Mr. Karat answered: “we have conveyed to the Congress leadership our concerns and it depends on what they decide.”

“Not a narrow party issue”

Responding to another question, Mr. Karat said the nuclear deal with the U.S. should not be seen as a “narrow party issue” as it was “a long-term agreement and we are going to have safeguards in perpetuity.”

Asked whether, in the context of the Prime Minister’s challenge to the Left parties to withdraw support, he had suggested that Dr. Manmohan Singh should quit, Mr. Karat responded: “I have not suggested anything. I have suggested, ‘Don’t take the next step.’”

He summed up the CPI(M)’s position thus: “So we are saying, ‘Don’t proceed, discuss the matter, take into account all the objections and concerns, and then we can take a decision.’”

Noting that the government was aware of the strong reservations on the nuclear deal by a majority in Parliament, Mr. Karat asserted that “the democratic way will be to put on hold the agreement till the doubts and apprehensions are clarified.”

The CPI(M) Polit Bureau resolution has specifically demanded that “till all the objections are considered and the implications of the Hyde Act evaluated, the government should not take the next step with regard to negotiating a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

“We hope they will consider”

Mr. Karat explained that his party’s views on any strategic alliance with the U.S. were well known “but more important than that…we told the Congress leadership that they historically played a role on having a consensus on foreign policy.”

Pointing out that in the past the Left supported the government’s independent foreign policy, he added: “So we have urged the Congress leadership to seriously consider what our Polit Bureau has said and we hope they will discuss the matter and take an appropriate decision and get back to us. We have to wait for their decision.”

In its resolution, the Polit Bureau explained its opposition thus: “The agreement should be seen in the light of the Hyde Act passed by the U.S. Congress and in the context of the wider implications of India being bound into a strategic alliance with the U.S. and its adverse consequences for an independent foreign policy, sovereignty and the economic interests of the people. The Polit Bureau is of the firm opinion that going ahead with this agreement will not serve India’s interests.”

While fully endorsing the stand taken by the Left parties on the agreement for nuclear cooperation with the U.S., the Polit Bureau decided “to take the issue of the nuclear agreement and the dangers of the strategic alliance with the United States to the people through a nationwide mass campaign.”