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Sunday, May 11, 2008
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Manmohan: hope nation will heed Kalam’s counsel on nuclear deal

Vinay Kumar

About Arjun Singh, the Prime Minister says he is a great leader of the party

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday expressed the hope that the country “will listen to the voices of wisdom” on the India-U.S. civilian nuclear cooperation agreement.

Asked about the remarks of the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam favouring the nuclear deal with the U.S., Dr. Singh said: “He was intimately associated with Pokhran-II and is a distinguished scientist and former President. I hope the country and the people will listen to his advice.”

Asked if the Left would heed Mr. Kalam’s advice, Dr. Singh smilingly repeated his comment: “I hope the country and the people will listen.”

The Prime Minister was speaking to reporters after the Padma Awards presentation ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The former President, who had played a pivotal role in the 1998 Pokhran-II nuclear explosion during the National Democratic Alliance regime, said on Friday that the country should go ahead with the nuclear deal as it “does not compromise India’s sovereignty.”

Mr. Kalam said India could “any time withdraw, if any national security need arises in future.” He said since India did not have enough uranium resources, it should look to getting it from countries which had it in abundance.

The Prime Minister’s comments come nearly a fortnight ahead of a crucial meeting of the UPA-Left Committee on the deal scheduled for May 28. The government has already made a plea to the Left to allow it to conclude and sign an India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

At the last meeting of the committee on May 6, the Left parties sought more clarifications on certain clauses of the safeguards agreement.

Season of elections

When Dr. Singh’s attention was drawn to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s criticism that he had “failed” to perform on the economic front, he said he would not like to talk about it. “This is politics, the season of elections is getting nearer. It is an attempt to try to politicise issues. We all know that.”

Asked about his Cabinet colleague Arjun Singh’s remarks about loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family, Dr. Singh said: “He is a great leader of our party.”

Asked about Thursday’s firing in the Samba sector, he said it was an attempt to facilitate infiltration. “We will have to be alert on our borders. I hope Pakistan and its authorities will maintain peace on the border.”

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