The Hindu : National : David Mulford meets Advani

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David Mulford meets Advani

Special Correspondent

Meeting comes at a time of Left-UPA standoff on deal
Advani’s office tight-lipped on meeting

New Delhi: U.S. Ambassador to India David Mulford met Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani at his residence here on Wednesday evening.

It is understood that they “exchanged notes” on the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, which is expected to be taken up for a discussion in Parliament in the winter session.

Earlier, Mr. Mulford met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee before the latter left for China. He also met Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon.

These meetings have come at a time when there is a standoff between the United Progressive Alliance and the Left parties on the deal and when some parties are demanding that if the “sense of the House” is against the deal, it should be called off.

BJP stand

The BJP, unlike the Left, is not against a strategic partnership between India and the U.S. Its concern is that India should continue to have the freedom to test a nuclear device if its national interest so demands.

The BJP view is that the Hyde Act would lead to the collapse of the nuclear agreement if India were to test. The other view is that the BJP-led government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee offered to sign a “de jure” agreement on not testing any further atomic weapon — that offer was made by the then Prime Minister publicly at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

He also tied the country’s hands on this issue through a declaration of voluntary moratorium on further testing immediately after Pokhran-II in May 1998. The UPA government has been saying the BJP’s opposition to the deal is unprincipled as the Vajpayee government sought a similar deal from the U.S.

Mr. Advani’s office was tight-lipped on what happened at his meeting with Mr. Mulford.

Some months ago, Mr. Advani let U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman know that his party was basically worried about the Hyde Act, not the 123 agreement.

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