NEW DELHI, 5 November 2007 — The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has reiterated its opposition to the controversial India-US nuclear deal and vowed to oppose it in the Parliament.
“Why should we shirk our responsibility to oppose the deal in its present form? It is our duty to oppose it... It is not the responsibility of the main opposition party to save the government,” Yashwant Sinha, former foreign minister and BJP vice president told a news channel. The BJP is the leading opposition party in the Parliament.
Emphasizing that the BJP opposed the deal because it offered “subservient status” to India, Sinha said his party would press for voting in Parliament on the deal. Sinha’s insistence on voting follows a clarification recently made by the left bloc that it was not necessary to hold voting in Parliament. Asserting that deal in its present form is “unacceptable” to BJP, Sinha said: “We have clearly said that there are elements in the 123 agreement which are not acceptable to us and it is not merely the Hyde Act.”
Sinha pointed out that while the BJP was in favor of maintaining good ties with the United States, the party remained against the deal.
“It is entirely wrong and even mischievous to suggest that because we advocate a better relationship with the US, we sacrifice our national interest and accept the deal,” he said.
