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‘N-deal will hurt our interests’

VISAKHAPATNAM: Signing the nuclear deal with the United States would make India a puppet in the hands of that country, said the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member B.V. Raghavulu here on Tuesday.

Addressing a meeting on the “Indo-US nuclear deal and its repercussions”, jointly organised by the CPI and CPI(M), he said there was no reason why the Congress Government should go ahead with the deal when the maximum number of MP s, political parties and the people were opposed to it. Without ruling out the option to withdraw support to the Government, he said:

“If you (Central Government) want to sit on our shoulders and sign the agreement, we will oppose it tooth and nail.”

Speaking in lucid Telugu, Mr. Raghavulu drove home the point that importing uranium from the US would compound the problems of the common man. While the Congress-led Government claims that the uranium to be imported from the US would be used to generate electricity and put an end to the power shortage in the country, it would result in a steep hike in the cost of power.

While the present cost of a unit of power is Rs.2.50, it could go up to Rs.9 a unit when uranium is used.

Then there was the constant threat of the US stopping the supply of uranium whenever it felt that India was acting against its interests.

He said that import of gas and oil from Iran and Iraq was a better alternative as it could lower their prices considerably in India.

But, the US was against India befriending Iran and Iraq as it was determined to cripple them economically.

The CPI(M) leader said that there was no reason why a nation with a 100-crore strong people feel threatened or be dictated by the policies of the US.

He compared the US to a moneylender in the village who makes the borrowers dance to his tunes.

Mr. Raghavulu said even before the nuclear deal was signed, Indo-US joint Naval exercises have been launched in the Bay of Bengal off Visakhapatnam.

He said the exercises were aimed at giving basic training to our (Indian) troops in the operation of US fighter craft and vice-versa so that in future could be deployed in fighting the enemies of US like Iran, Iraq and Palestine. India could be forced to allow re-fuelling of US fighter planes in the country.

He called upon all people to oppose the nuclear deal in the interests of the nation at large.

Former MLA and CPI leader Maanam Anjaneyulu felt that signing the nuke deal was nothing but strengthening the capitalist forces and making the poor poorer.

CPI leader J.V. Satyanarayana Murthy and CPI(M) leaders K. Lokanadham and V.S. Padmanabharaju were present.

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