The Hindu : Front Page : Renegotiate deal: Advani

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 03, 2007
ePaper

Front Page

Front Page

Renegotiate deal: Advani

Staff Reporter

Seeks law to counter Hyde Act

L.K. Advani

KOCHI: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani on Sunday urged the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to bring in legislation to counter the provisions of the United States’ Hyde Act and protect the country’s autonomy.

Talking to mediapersons here, he said that by signing the nuclear deal with the United States, India had become a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) even without signing it.

The government should renegotiate the deal as its provisions amounted to imposing curbs on the country’s independence. The BJP was opposing the deal on account of national interest but the Left parties were opposing it due to their anti-Americanism, which was relevant only during the Cold War, he said.

On the proposed committee to look into the Left parties’ concerns, he said a joint parliamentary committee should have been set up as the nuclear deal was a national issue of vital strategic importance. Mr. Advani said there were prospects of a mid-term poll in the early part of 2008, considering the political developments in the last fortnight. The present government would not last till 2009.

“Collision dharma”

The Congress and the Left were resorting to collision dharma instead of following the coalition dharma. “If the collision leads to an untimely parliamentary election, they alone will have to share the blame,” he said.

PTI reports:

Mr. Advani asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to clarify whether all previous governments had “missed the bus” by not signing the NPT.

He was reacting to Dr. Singh’s remarks at Tarapur on Friday that India cannot afford to “miss the bus” of nuclear renaissance this time.”

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page