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Thursday, Mar 20, 2008
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Can neither mend nor end nuclear deal: Pranab

Gargi Parsai

“Whenever procedure is over, if it is over, government will come to Parliament”

Joint exercises with any country does not mean giving up on sovereign rights
Says political solution the only answer for ethnic issue in Sri Lanka

NEW DELHI: Facing a stringent attack from Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha, the government on Wednesday said it could “neither mend nor end” the India-U.S. nuclear agreement as it was in dialogue at the International Atomic Energy Agency .

Responding to a short duration discussion on foreign-policy related developments, Union External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee initially did not refer to the deal as, he said, there was nothing to report.

However, when the Opposition and Left members insisted that he state the government’s position, Mr. Mukherjee said, “Leader of Opposition Jaswant Singh said we should either mend it or end it, but we are at a stage that neither it can be ended nor it can be mended because we are in dialogue,” he said.

Noting that there was some advancement in talks on the India-specific safeguards agreement at the IAEA, the Minister said, “whenever the procedure is over, if it is over,” the government will come to Parliament.

Dismissing the charge that Parliament was not being taken into confidence, Mr. Mukherjee said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured members that whenever any stage (of negotiation) was completed, the government would share it. “[The UPA-Left Coordination Committee] is an internal arrangement. We have to carry their conviction and share some information with them.”

‘Continuity’

Refuting the charge of the government “diluting” India’s foreign policy, Mr. Mukherjee asserted that there was “continuity” and India was not in isolation. There were no basic changes but only certain adjustments and reallocation of priorities in the context of the changing world. For instance, when the Non-Aligned Movement was formed, there was no World Trade Organisation. When such changes take place, they were bound to be reflected in the foreign policy he said.

On the differences of perception with China on Arunachal Pradesh, he said: “We have representatives of Arunachal Pradesh in Parliament. When the Prime Minister visits the State and declares a package, it is consistent with our policies. There are no inherent differences in approach and it would be India’s endeavour to convert the divergences into convergences.”

Tibet

On the situation in Tibet, the Minister said while India had given shelter to spiritual leader Dalai Lama and his followers for the last several decades, they were “advised not to indulge in political activity that can jeopardise our relationship with any friendly country. If the Chinese authorities feel it is reassuring, it should not be taken as patronising.”

Mr. Mukherjee sought to assure Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury that joint military exercises with any country, including the U.S., neither meant giving up on India’s sovereign rights nor subjecting “ourselves” to some sort of pressure. “Earlier we did not have the capability. Now we have. If joint exercises with Russia or China does not mean succumbing to pressure, why should it be so with the U.S.?”

Denying that India had diluted its stand on Palestine, Mr. Mukherjee said India had supported the Security Council resolution that Israel would have to vacate occupied land and that Palestinians had every right to their homeland and to live in peace as Israelis had.

Responding to wide-scale criticism of India entering into an alliance with Israel for putting a spy satellite into orbit, Mr. Mukherjee said that it had nothing to do with the two governments, but in fact, was a venture between two commercial entities.

On Sri Lanka, he said India had “no sympathy” for the LTTE — which is a banned organisation in the country – and felt that a political solution was the only answer to the ethnic issue. On the question of Indian fishermen being subjected to attacks by the Sri Lankan Navy, raised by D. Raja (CPI) and V. Maitreyan (AIADMK), he said negotiations were on and a solution would soon be found to benefit fishermen.

Mr. Mukherjee said the composite dialogue with Pakistan, which had been “delayed” in the wake of political development in that country , would be resumed as soon as the new government took over .

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