NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India on Thursday said it wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make a statement in Parliament and remove the misgivings on the India-U.S. nuclear agreement reflecting the sense of the House including the concerns of the Left parties.

"If such a statement is made for the time being, we will cross the bridge. We are not for joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party in bringing such a resolution [before the House]," CPI Parliamentary Party leaders Gurudas Dasgupta and S. Sudhakar Reddy told a press conference.

Mr. Dasgupta was responding to questions on the party stand on the proposed move for a resolution that reflects the sense of the House. He said the CPI thought it would be politically wrong to have a joint resolution with the BJP on this position.

CPI (M) sends draft

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) sent a draft resolution to the Government which spelt out the concerns on the way the nuclear agreement was shaping.

It read: "This House, having seen and examined in detail, the Bill titled `United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act' as adopted by the Committee on Foreign Relations and of the Senate, and the Bill titled `United States and India Nuclear Cooperation Promotion Act, 2006' as adopted by the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress and taking careful note of the content of the `Sense of the Congress' and other conditionalities in the text of these two Bills, resolves to categorically reject the said `Sense,' and all the conditionalities incorporated in the Bills. The House affirms that India shall not accept any Agreement which constraints, directly or indirectly, the development of India's self-reliant nuclear programme, and compromises its independent foreign policy."

The draft also referred to the assurance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the House on several occasions that the agreement was based on India gaining full access to civilian nuclear technology, on reciprocity and on a sequence of events in which India will not accept any binding international commitments, without matching changes in the U.S. laws and the policies of the Nuclear Supplies Group. It also mentioned unacceptability of the additional protocol India would have to sign with the International Atomic Energy Agency and certification that the U.S. President would have to give annually on inspections. It also said that India should continue its traditional stand on Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty and not agree for a test ban in a bilateral agreement.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranajan Dasmunsi said there was a talk of a resolution but the Government would address the concerns of the Left and expressed confidence that the question of a resolution would not arise.

He indicated that sometime next week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would make a suo motu statement in Parliament and as per tradition there would be clarifications in the Rajya Sabha and in the Lok Sabha a similar exercise could be carried out provided the Speaker permits it.

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