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BJP changes tack on nuclear deal

NEW DELHI: Changing tack on the India-United States nuclear deal, the Bharatiya Janata Party now says that, if voted to power, a BJP-led government will try and change it “to accommodate our concerns.”

Just before the start of the election process, senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh suggested, during a visit to Singapore, that given that the nuclear deal was a done thing, the party was aware of India’s international commitments.

The party admitted that this was a far cry from the initial stand, taken by senior leaders Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, that the BJP would rescind the deal when it came to power. That was before the deal was signed and sealed.

On Tuesday, party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “Given the reality of the deal, our primary concern would now be to ensure changes are made to address our concerns.”

As to what Mr. Jaswant Singh had said in Singapore, Mr. Prasad pointed out that the senior leader was away campaigning in Darjeeling.

The spokesman said his party “had not been against a nuclear deal or strategic partnership with the United States.”

The BJP had opposed the deal because it was of the view that it compromised India’s strategic nuclear interests.

When it was pointed out that earlier the party talked of “rescinding” it, Mr. Prasad said the deal was a reality now.

Does the BJP now stand by a policy of no negotiation with terrorists? This question was posed to Mr. Prasad in the context of the exchanges between the BJP and the Congress over the Kandahar hijack episode and the release of three hardcore terrorists in exchange for the safety of nearly 200 passengers of an Indian Airlines plane. Mr. Prasad said: “The primary policy, we approve, is of no negotiation with terrorists. The painful circumstances leading to the Kandahar episode cannot be the benchmark.”

He was also responding to a question on Mr. Singh’s earlier assertion on Kandahar that he would “do it again” in similar circumstances.

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