The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Transparency sought on nuclear deal

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Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Transparency sought on nuclear deal

Special Correspondent

AIDWA, SFI organise meeting to discuss agreement

Chennai: Indians need to be on guard against the proposed nuclear deal with the United States and must demand total transparency from the government in all aspects of the agreement, speakers at a meeting on the ‘Indo-American nuclear deal: its consequences and dangers,’ said on Tuesday.

Several aspects of the deal were suspect, such as the total lack of discussion or information about the deal, S. Janakarajan, professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies, said at the meet organised by the All India Democratic Women’s Association and the Students Federation of India.

The Indo-American nuclear deal went against the spirit of India’s environmental laws. The agenda of the United States seemed to be to make India a dependent, as far as energy needs and development of new technologies were concerned. Even if implemented, the deal would meet only a very small part of the country’s energy needs, at the cost of India’s sovereignty, he said.

The Indo-American nuclear deal went against the grain of India’s foreign policy tenets such as non-alignment, which had earned it global goodwill, and impeded the country’s sovereignty, said V. Vasanthi Devi, who was a former chairperson of the Tamil Nadu State Women’s Commission.

The agreement was partisan in many respects and imposed a host of restrictions on only one partner, India.

Its promise of unlimited supply of fuel and technology was also suspect, she said, adding that it may also not help in meeting the country’s energy requirements.

Awareness needed to be created at all levels to educate the public about the disastrous consequences of the deal, U. Vasuki, State general secretary, All India Democratic Women’s Association, said.

G. Selva, State general secretary, Students Federation of India, participated.

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