BJP leader L K Advani has rubbished Union Minister Kapil Sibal’s claim that the former had “assured” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of his “consent” over the Indo-US nuclear deal. “I strongly condemn this baseless claim, which is aimed at spreading disinformation and confusion in the run-up to the crucial trust vote that the UPA Government has had to face due to a crisis of its own making,” said Advani in a statement.“In my meeting with the PM in December 2007, I had conveyed to him that the BJP has all along maintained that the nuclear deal in its present form is unacceptable to the country because the Hyde Act, which governs the 123 Agreement, undermines India’s nuclear autonomy and imposes curbs on our strategic programme. I had suggested to him that Parliament should consider passing a suitable amendment to the Atomic Energy Act to insulate India from the negative effects of the Hyde Act,” added the note.
