Date:08/10/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/08/stories/2007100851780300.htm

Andhra Pradesh

MLC criticises nuclear deal

Staff Reporter

If the agreement with Iran on supply of gas is not signed, it will lead to energy crisis: Nageshwar

ADILABAD: K. Nageshwar, Member of State Legislative Council (MLC), on Sunday said the controversial nuclear agreement between India and the United States will lead to energy crisis.

He said the Union Government’s contention that the nuclear agreement between the two countries will help the energy sector is incorrect.

At a seminar on ‘Nuclear agreement - implications’, organised by the Employees Voice magazine, the MLC demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh give Parliament a written assurance on its commitment for laying of pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan for supply of gas.

He said there was a fear that the United States will scuttle the project taking advantage of some of the provisions in the nuclear deal and allied Acts. If the project gets suspended then the country will be denied gas supply because of which major developments in the field of energy will be stopped. This will lead to energy crisis, he opined.

The various Acts relevant to the nuclear agreement actually render India a puppet in the hands of America, Mr. Nageshwar said. In case the agreement goes through, the country will become a military ally of the United States. In that event it will be forced to purchase that country’s weaponry irrespective of the fact whether such weapons are needed here or suited India’s purpose, he added.

Talking about the cost of production of nuclear energy, the MLC said it not only came at more cost but its costliness will keep it out of bounds of common man. President and secretary of Telangana Non Gazetted Officers’ Union M. Rajeshwar Reddy and S. Ashok, general secretary of United Teachers Federation A. Venkat and others also attended.