The Hindu : Front Page : An obsession to fulfil commitment made to Bush, says CPI(M)

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Wednesday, Jul 02, 2008
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An obsession to fulfil commitment made to Bush, says CPI(M)

Special Correspondent

“The majority in Parliament opposed deal”

Parliament had no say in 123 Agreement
Text of safeguards agreement not shown to
UPA-Left panel

NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Tuesday said the proposal by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to place the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal before Parliament “revealed nothing but an obsession to fulfil the commitment made to President Bush in July 2005 in which the people of this country and Parliament had no say.”

The CPI(M) said both Houses had comprehensively discussed the 123 Agreement in December last. “It is on record that except the United Progressive Alliance parties, all others which constitute the majority expressed reservations about the 123 Agreement and urged the government not to proceed further,” the party said in a release here.

‘A fait accompli’

The reaction came a day after Dr. Singh said the government would seek the sense of Parliament on the deal after the safeguards agreement was approved by the Board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and waiver was obtained from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

“After both the steps [IAEA and NSG] taken for operationalisation of the deal, the Prime Minister promises to take the sense of Parliament. This would mean a fait accompli, as the only step left would be the vote in the U.S. Congress,” the release said. It said the government had gone to the IAEA and negotiated a safeguards agreement. But the text was not shown to the UPA-Left Committee or made public.

“The government now insists on going ahead for getting the Board’s approval without anyone seeing the text or the UPA-Left Committee on the nuclear deal giving its concurrence.”

The CPI(M) said the 123 Agreement was signed in July 2007 before it was placed in Parliament.

“As soon as the text of the 123 Agreement was made public, the Left parties and other political parties, which represent a majority in Parliament, came out against it.”

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