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Congress youth brigade to the fore

Special Correspondent

Jyotiraditya Scindia

NEW DELHI: Leading the Congress defence of the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal was surprisingly not veteran Parliamentarians but members of the “youth brigade” who put up spirited arguments during the marathon debate on Wednesday in the Lok Sabha.

If a suave Jyotiraditya Scindia picked up from where Leader of Opposition L. K. Advani left and stole the limelight, it was the turn of Sachin Pilot to put across his views in a forceful manner. If Jyotiraditya displayed shades of his father Madhavrao Scindia in his polished, well-prepared 25-minute speech, Sachin’s skills and mastery over both Hindi and English were reminiscent of his father Rajesh Pilot.

Mr. Scindia said the deal kept India’s military reactors outside its purview and was a tribute to India’s successful efforts in global diplomacy. “The deal with the U.S. raises India’s stature as a responsible nuclear power and clears the decks for India’s position as a global player.”

Taking the criticism of the deal by the Opposition head on, Mr. Scindia said it was disturbing that the Opposition was accusing the government of bartering the country’s sovereignty and taking dictation from Washington. “Look at Pakistan, they also want an agreement like 123 with the U.S. but they are not getting it,” he said.

Referring to India’s democratic opposition of the U.S. at several world fora such as the World Trade Organisation, United Nations and on issues such as restructuring of the Security Council and Iran, Mr. Scindia said India’s foreign policy was being pursued independently.

Sachin Pilot

He said the deal was based on “mutual benefit” and accused the BJP of nearly signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1998 and termed the criticism of the deal by the BJP as being prompted by its “inconsistent and hypocritical stand and momentary gain,” and not by national interest.

Terming the Left apprehensions on the Hyde Act misplaced, the young Congress MP from Guna quoted profusely the relevant Sections like 102, 103 and 104 of the Hyde Act and claimed they were non-enforceable.

Another advantage of the deal, he said, was that it gave India upfront right to reprocess the spent fuel and it was all due to the stand taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

As he took his seat, a number of Congress leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and others were seen lauding his speech.

His colleague, Sachin Pilot, argued that the deal was based on parity and equality and gave India the right to participate in global nuclear trade as the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was created to keep India out.

Refuting opposition charges that India’s independent foreign policy would become subservient to the U.S., Mr. Pilot wondered how a country of one-billion plus could be made to tow a particular line. He urged the Opposition to stop “flip-flop” on the deal.

Earlier, initiating the discussion on the nuclear deal Rupchand Pal of the CPI(M) asked the government to disclose the contents of the “secret talks” between the former External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, and the former U.S. Secretary of State, Strobe Talbott.

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