Bush: BJP asks PM to talk within consensus limits

Afraid that the Left was monopolising the entire ‘‘anti-US’’ and ‘‘nationalist’’ space on the eve of...

Afraid that the Left was monopolising the entire ‘‘anti-US’’ and ‘‘nationalist’’ space on the eve of US President George Bush’s visit to the country, the BJP today stepped in to warn the government to be ‘‘mindful of the parameters of national consensus’’ during bilateral talks later this week. It also demanded that India raise the AQ Khan issue and the role of Pakistan as the ‘‘lynchpin’’ of the illegal trade in nuclear technology with the visiting US delegation.

In an ‘‘open letter’’ to PM Manmohan Singh, BJP chief Rajnath Singh laid particular emphasis on the Indo-US nuclear deal and the Kashmir issue. ‘‘No Indo-US understanding on nuclear matters will be acceptable unless they factor the dynamics of a credible and effective nuclear deterrence as determined by us and preserve India’s status as an independent nuclear power,’’ he wrote.

On Kashmir, Singh expressed concerns over suggestions of a US mediatory role and underlined that ‘‘the national consensus is quite clearly against any third-party mediation and the redrawing of national boundaries.’’

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Unlike the Left and Samajwadi Party, the BJP is not against Bush’s visit. Formally welcoming the visit, the BJP chief said: ‘‘We believe it provides an opportunity for US policy-makers to understand the importance of India in the world and appreciate our concerns.’’ He, however, said it was ‘‘regrettable’’ that the government ‘‘has not cared to keep the premier Opposition party and the NDA informed’’. Since national interests demand a bipartisan foreign policy, ‘‘we consider this lack of transparency a major lapse of the government’’, Singh said.

The BJP called upon the PM to broach cross-border terror and proliferation of nuclear technology. ‘‘Pakistan has resisted international pressure to bring the rogue scientists to book,’’ Singh wrote, urging the PM to ‘‘impress upon the US the need to apply diplomatic pressure on Pakistan and its military-nuclear establishment’’.

The BJP had a note of encouragement too. The letter underlined that Indo-US ties in agricultural technology was necessary for India to achieve a Second Green Revolution, and urged the PM to take up the question in right earnest.

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