Press Trust of India
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 (Washington)
India on Tuesday said it will not move forward on the civil nuclear deal with the US till a political consensus is achieved and that government was making efforts to evolve a ''meeting ground'' with outside supporters Left parties.''If we are able to evolve a consensus then it will be possible to hasten the process (of taking the deal forward),'' visiting External Affairs Minister Mukherjee told reporters.Meanwhile, the US nudged India into concluding the agreement with the IAEA and seek NSG waiver by May to give the Congress time to have a final vote on the deal. The Left is opposed to the deal.Mukherjee, who met US President George W Bush at the White House for 35 minutes and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday, said UPA government is ''interested'' in pursuing the Indo-US civil nuclear deal and that it was aware of the timeframe suggested by members of the US Congress but certain issues were yet to be resolved.Conveying to Mukherjee Washington's desire to take the deal forward, Rice had said it is a ''landmark agreement which is good for both sides....we will continue to work on that agreement.''''''Let us see. Events have their own momentum'', said Mukherjee when asked by when he expected the political process in India to be hastened.''The UPA government is trying to work out a meeting ground between it and a section of its supporters (to evolve a consensus),'' said Mukherjee who is on his maiden bilateral visit to the US.Mukherjee said ''there is opposition from the Left and the BJP to the nuclear deal and therefore we have to take into account that....if it is subsequently not honoured by the next government it would lead to en embarrassing situation for the country.''Mukherjee said although India has finalised the language of the safeguards text with the IAEA it was difficult to indicate at this juncture a time-frame by when the nuke deal could be wrapped up.To a question whether the Congress-led coalition will sacrifice the government for the deal, Mukehrjee said ''it is not a question of sacrificing the deal or the government.''The Left parties have threatened withdrawal of support to the UPA government if it went ahead with operationalising the agreement for the deal which has been described as a landmark one by the US.Energy deficient''Our government is interested in ratifying the (nuclear) agreement since we are energy deficient. There is an overall consensus (in India) that nuclear technology is important,'' the minister added.To a question whether a minority government can move forward on the nuclear deal in the event of the Left withdrawing support, Mukherjee said ''legally and constitutionally speaking there is nothing called a minority government. But political angularity cannot be ignored.''Mukherjee said there are different ideological positions over the nuclear deal and some of the political parties supporting the government from outside feel the country should not have the agreement with the US.Ahead of the Bush-Mukherjee meeting, the White House said that the president was ''excited'' about meeting the external affairs minister and discussing the range of bilateral issues including the civilian nuclear deal.Describing his visit to the US as very productive and fruitful, Mukherjee in his opening statement said discussions with the US leadership reinforced India's view that the bilateral relationship is robust and forward leaning and answers to the interests of both countries.''The India-US strategic partnership has grown from strength to strength. I believe there is consensus in both countries to strengthen India-US ties and to further enrich our bilateral agenda,'' he said.''We also discussed the way forward on opening civil nuclear cooperation by India with USA and other partners as a critical element of our energy security,'' he added.Stating that several countries in India's region are going through a period of transition, Mukherjee said it is in India's direct interest that there should be peace stability and economic development that will benefit all.On Pakistan, Mukherjee said it is India's hope that the new government will renew the composite dialogue process and pick up the threads from President Pervez Musharraf had left.Mukherjee said he had also discussed climate change and the need for a successful conclusion of the Doha Development Trade Round.
The basic flaw of the proposed nuclear deal is that it curtails India's sovereignty in going ahead with the nuclearisation of the armed forces. The UPA government is willing to sign this self-compromising agreement while the opposition calls it a sell-out. America meanwhile is clear the deal will not be renegotiated. Therefore the deal, as such, is destined to be a non-starter.
However, I feel a deal with no restrictions on India’s sovereignty can come through if India partners USA on a pro-Israel Middle-East policy. While UPA would not be agreeable to this as the Muslim constituency is its primary concern, the BJP should not have a problem on this score. So we will have to wait for a BJP government to have a proper nuclear deal with USA.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 (Washington)
India on Tuesday said it will not move forward on the civil nuclear deal with the US till a political consensus is achieved and that government was making efforts to evolve a ''meeting ground'' with outside supporters Left parties.''If we are able to evolve a consensus then it will be possible to hasten the process (of taking the deal forward),'' visiting External Affairs Minister Mukherjee told reporters.Meanwhile, the US nudged India into concluding the agreement with the IAEA and seek NSG waiver by May to give the Congress time to have a final vote on the deal. The Left is opposed to the deal.Mukherjee, who met US President George W Bush at the White House for 35 minutes and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday, said UPA government is ''interested'' in pursuing the Indo-US civil nuclear deal and that it was aware of the timeframe suggested by members of the US Congress but certain issues were yet to be resolved.Conveying to Mukherjee Washington's desire to take the deal forward, Rice had said it is a ''landmark agreement which is good for both sides....we will continue to work on that agreement.''''''Let us see. Events have their own momentum'', said Mukherjee when asked by when he expected the political process in India to be hastened.''The UPA government is trying to work out a meeting ground between it and a section of its supporters (to evolve a consensus),'' said Mukherjee who is on his maiden bilateral visit to the US.Mukherjee said ''there is opposition from the Left and the BJP to the nuclear deal and therefore we have to take into account that....if it is subsequently not honoured by the next government it would lead to en embarrassing situation for the country.''Mukherjee said although India has finalised the language of the safeguards text with the IAEA it was difficult to indicate at this juncture a time-frame by when the nuke deal could be wrapped up.To a question whether the Congress-led coalition will sacrifice the government for the deal, Mukehrjee said ''it is not a question of sacrificing the deal or the government.''The Left parties have threatened withdrawal of support to the UPA government if it went ahead with operationalising the agreement for the deal which has been described as a landmark one by the US.Energy deficient''Our government is interested in ratifying the (nuclear) agreement since we are energy deficient. There is an overall consensus (in India) that nuclear technology is important,'' the minister added.To a question whether a minority government can move forward on the nuclear deal in the event of the Left withdrawing support, Mukherjee said ''legally and constitutionally speaking there is nothing called a minority government. But political angularity cannot be ignored.''Mukherjee said there are different ideological positions over the nuclear deal and some of the political parties supporting the government from outside feel the country should not have the agreement with the US.Ahead of the Bush-Mukherjee meeting, the White House said that the president was ''excited'' about meeting the external affairs minister and discussing the range of bilateral issues including the civilian nuclear deal.Describing his visit to the US as very productive and fruitful, Mukherjee in his opening statement said discussions with the US leadership reinforced India's view that the bilateral relationship is robust and forward leaning and answers to the interests of both countries.''The India-US strategic partnership has grown from strength to strength. I believe there is consensus in both countries to strengthen India-US ties and to further enrich our bilateral agenda,'' he said.''We also discussed the way forward on opening civil nuclear cooperation by India with USA and other partners as a critical element of our energy security,'' he added.Stating that several countries in India's region are going through a period of transition, Mukherjee said it is in India's direct interest that there should be peace stability and economic development that will benefit all.On Pakistan, Mukherjee said it is India's hope that the new government will renew the composite dialogue process and pick up the threads from President Pervez Musharraf had left.Mukherjee said he had also discussed climate change and the need for a successful conclusion of the Doha Development Trade Round.
The basic flaw of the proposed nuclear deal is that it curtails India's sovereignty in going ahead with the nuclearisation of the armed forces. The UPA government is willing to sign this self-compromising agreement while the opposition calls it a sell-out. America meanwhile is clear the deal will not be renegotiated. Therefore the deal, as such, is destined to be a non-starter.
However, I feel a deal with no restrictions on India’s sovereignty can come through if India partners USA on a pro-Israel Middle-East policy. While UPA would not be agreeable to this as the Muslim constituency is its primary concern, the BJP should not have a problem on this score. So we will have to wait for a BJP government to have a proper nuclear deal with USA.
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