The Hindu : National : Convince House on nuclear deal, Vajpayee urges Manmohan Singh

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Tuesday, May 29, 2007
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Convince House on nuclear deal, Vajpayee urges Manmohan Singh

Special Correspondent

New Delhi: In a press statement issued here on Monday, the former Prime Minister and leader of the NDA, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to convince Parliament that the assurances he had provided the House last year had been fulfilled before finally committing India to the nuclear deal with the United States.

Mr. Vajpayee's statement comes days ahead of the next round of negotiations between India and the U.S. over the bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement, known as the 123 agreement.

Citing media reports that the deal was "almost ready for the approval of the governments of the two countries," Mr. Vajpayee noted that constitutionally, the Government of India is not required to seek parliamentary approval before signing an international agreement. "Yet, in this case, the Prime Minister had given certain specific assurances to the Parliament of India last year," he said.

"Therefore, it is incumbent upon the Prime Minister to satisfy both Houses of Parliament." This, said Mr. Vajpayee, was all the more necessary "given the controversy generated by some provisions of the legislation passed by U.S. Congress."

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