NEW DELHI, 8 August 2007 — Key communist allies of India’s coalition government yesterday rejected a civilian nuclear deal with the United States, warning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against pushing ahead.
A group of communist parties that support the Congress party-led coalition asked Manmohan Singh not to put into operation the complex deal known as the 123 agreement because it requires several steps in tandem by both nations before coming into force, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
After “careful assessment” of a text of the pact released Friday and studying it in the “context of burgeoning strategic alliance” with Washington, the communist parties in a statement said they were “unable to accept the agreement.”
The statement came ahead of India’s monsoon session of Parliament beginning Monday where the deal is also expected to run into criticism from the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. Manmohan Singh, who personally oversaw two years of talks that led to the historic pact, is expected to make a statement in Parliament on Aug. 13.
The terms of the accord, which seeks to bring India into the loop of global nuclear commerce after a gap of three decades was also rejected by the BJP over the weekend. The deal clinched in Washington last month and detailed Friday allows India to buy civilian nuclear technology while possessing nuclear weapons, making it an exception under the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. One of the trickiest issues — whether India’s unilateral decision to test nuclear weapons would end the deal — appeared to have been sidestepped.
National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan last month described the deal as “excellent” and India’s Atomic Energy Board chief Anil Kakodkar added that he was satisfied with it.
The deal must also be approved by the US Congress and other nations under the umbrella of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Narayanan yesterday briefed Japanese leaders on the landmark deal with the United States, as Tokyo remained noncommittal on whether it would support the controversial pact.
Narayanan met with Foreign Minister Taro Aso. He also paid a courtesy call on Monday to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to prepare for his visit to India this month.
Narayanan told Aso about the details of the US-India pact, Japanese Foreign Ministry official Naoshige Aoshima said.
India still needs to iron out details with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to ensure spent fuel is not reprocessed for weapons purposes.
“Japan has no stance on this issue at this moment until it obtains full information on the agreement and until India finishes talks with the IAEA,” Aoshima said.
