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Wednesday, Aug 22, 2007
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Stand unchanged: Congress

Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday said its position was “unchanged” on the issue of negotiating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as part of the India-U.S. nuclear agreement.

The IAEA is holding its annual meeting in September, and India, being a member of the general council, will attend it.

Talking to journalists, Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi declined to comment on Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury’s observation that the Government “should not go ahead with negotiations on India-specific safeguards” at the IAEA meeting.

On setting up a “mechanism” to discuss the Hyde Act, Mr. Singhvi said it was only speculation. There was no official word on it. The sections in the Act on which objections have been raised were “non-binding” in nature.

He said the “guiding pole star” was national interest. The government had said it was willing to address all legitimate concerns of the Left. All options “of every conceivable kind” were open and the government was ready for intense interaction and genuine understanding of each other’s views.

Mr. Singhvi said there were bound to be differences in a democracy. “There has been a collective decision in the UPA and it has involved not just the Congress but also several entities.”

The party believes that exemplary transparency was shown by the government in the last two years with regard to the negotiations on the deal with the United States since July 2005.

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