Date:05/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/05/stories/2008090560261200.htm

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Abandon 123, says CPI

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India demanded that the Manmohan Singh government abandon the process of operationalising the123 Agreement as the letter of the U.S. State Department made it clear that promises on India’s right to conduct nuclear tests, supply of fuel in perpetuity and getting sensitive technology for reprocessing and enrichment were baseless.

“More shocking is the fact that the U.S. has acquired the right to force India to abandon its future R&D projects,” the party’s Central Secretariat said in a release.

Brinda Karat’s charge

CPI(M) Polit Buro member Brinda Karat alleged that the Congress-led UPA government has been hiding facts about the controversial nuclear deal from people.

“Now a portion of the facts have become public. Remaining facts on the agreement will also be public soon,” she said.

The Janata Dal (United) said the entire matter ought to be probed by a joint parliamentary committee. The “Voluntary moratorium” on further testing, announced by the Vajpayee government in 1998, did not bind future governments while India should not be “dictated” by the U.S. on the issue of testing.

The All-India Forward Bloc demanded that the Prime Minister take the moral responsibility for “misleading the country” and apologise. The party favoured early convening of Parliament to discuss the issue.