The Hindu : Front Page : BJP wants nuclear deal renegotiated

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 08, 2007
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BJP wants nuclear deal renegotiated

Neena Vyas

It may not come to UPA Government’s aid during Parliament debate

Top party leaders meet again to discuss deal
They also discuss impact of developments in Pakistan

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here on Wednesday made it clear that it was against the India-United States nuclear deal being “hustled through” as it would like the deal to be “re-negotiated.” The political signal from the party was that it would not come to the aid of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) during the coming winter session of Parliament when the deal is debated and an attempt made to get a sense of the House with or without a vote on it.

Top leaders of the party — including party president Rajnath Singh, the Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani, former External Affairs Ministers Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha — met here for over 90 minutes to discuss the deal again in the light of recent meetings between senior party leaders and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, U.S. Ambassador to India David Mulford, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar.

While Mr. Mulford and Mr. Kissinger had met Mr. Advani, Mr. Rajnath Singh, Mr. Jaswant Singh and Mr. Sinha over the last 10 days, Mr. Narayanan and Mr. Kakodkar met Mr. Rajnath Singh and Mr. Advani during the last two days.

Clearly the attempt was to address the BJP’s main concern by assuring that the deal would not compromise India’s strategic nuclear programme.

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