NEW DELHI: Stating that the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal was part of a wider strategic partnership into which the U.S. sought to drag India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) warned the Government not to accept external conditions in pursuit of the deal.

"On the issue of foreign policy and Indo-U.S. strategic cooperation, differences between the Left parties and the United Progressive Alliance have come to the fore and the central committee at its meeting this week would discuss it," party general secretary Prakash Karat said here.

The main concern was that the United States was making India like its "reliable and junior ally" and that the nuclear deal was a quid pro quo in other areas such as the Iran nuclear deal and the gas pipeline project. The CPI (M) would take up the matter along with the Left and other political parties in Parliament.

In a separate statement, the party's Polit Bureau said it must be ensured that India's future energy programme did not become dependent on imported nuclear reactors and imported fuel. The deal must take into account the techno-economics of nuclear energy to determine its quantum in India's energy basket.

Still many hurdles

The party cautioned there were still many hurdles to be crossed and demanded that the United Progressive Alliance Government wait till the U.S. Congress approved the deal, and uninterrupted and unconditional supply of nuclear fuel and technologies to India was ensured.

The other points for consideration were that the UPA Government should not accept any further conditionalities or shifting of goalposts by the U.S., particularly on the U.S. plea of "facilitating'' the above endorsements by the U.S. Congress.

The India-specific safeguards and the Additional Protocol agreement with IAEA should be negotiated, ensuring adequate limitations on the inspection access of sites and data as well as protection of India's intellectual property, so that the inspection process does not become an exercise of intrusive evaluation of the country's indigenous nuclear development programme.

It said India must reject the U.S. offer to join their Global Nuclear Energy Partnership as a "client state" under which, going by the statement of President George Bush on February 22, 2006, the U.S. and other nations such as Britain, France, Japan, and Russia would merely "share nuclear fuel" with India. "India has an advanced nuclear energy programme and the Government must ensure India's right to develop and reprocess all nuclear fuels."

Nuclear fuel policy

"There should be no change in India's nuclear fuel policy or our three-phase nuclear energy programme going up to Breeders and then the thorium cycle; all efforts must be made to fully utilise India's indigenous capability and there should be no large-scale import of nuclear reactors and India should not be `boxed-in' to a nuclear energy route for our future energy programme without a detailed examination of the techno-economics of nuclear energy."

It warned the UPA Government that in pursuit of the deal, it should not accept external conditions such as on the Iran nuclear issue, the gas pipeline or purchases of U.S. military equipment. "The Government should also renew its commitment towards universal nuclear disarmament as traditionally held by India and enshrined in the New Delhi Declaration and should initiate measures to convene an International Convention towards this end," the statement said.

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