The Hindu : National : After all options, we will leave it to nation: Sibal

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Thursday, Nov 01, 2007
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After all options, we will leave it to nation: Sibal

New Delhi: Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said genuine concerns on the India-United States deal needed to be addressed and the government would consider all options before taking a decision on the future of the agreement.

“Once we have exhausted all the options, we will decide what to do. If not, then we will tell the nation ‘You decide’,” he said at a public lecture on the “Indo-U.S. Nuclear Agreement” organised by Delhi University here.

Mr. Sibal praised Left leaders for taking an ideological stand on the deal but criticised the BJP for attacking the government on the issue. “The Left has an ideology, BJP doesn’t.”

When a student asked him about the Left concerns, Mr. Sibal said: “The Left parties say that ‘you [government] have become pitthu [tool] of the U.S; what if they turn off the nuclear fuel supplies in the future as they had done once?’ So the Left parties say that you can have the deal with China or Russia, but not with the U.S.”

To a question on the right to conduct a nuclear test, he said the deal did not ban India from exploding an atomic device but made it clear that it would have to face the consequences for such a move.

“It is the same like if you sit for exams and fail, you too have to face the consequences.” — PTI

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