Letters to the editor

opposite poles 8212; the BJP and the CPM 8216;Deal through but Cong will have to pay a price: Karat8217;, IE, August 9. The BJP8217;s opposition is that the agreement limits India8217;s defence

options by restricting her choice of testing nuclear weapons in the future, thereby stopping the

upscaling of nuke weaponry. This contention is wrong. By this deal, India has not ceded the right to test although the US has the option to suspend nuclear cooperation with India if we test. But, while enforcing this option, the US would consider the circumstances that led India to the testing. For example, if Pakistan or China

conducts tests to enhance their weapon capability, India8217;s testing for the same purpose would be considered sympathetically by the US. As it is, India has unilaterally agreed not to conduct any nuclear weapon tests, and there is hardly any need for it to test. India has enough and in fact more nuclear weapons to deter Pak capability, and reaching the level of China in nuclear weaponry is not an easy task. Given this, BJP8217;s misgivings are mostly imaginary.

As for the CPM8217;s opposition, the party sees everything through its red glasses and all matters in which the US is

involved appear to it as black. However, as a supporter of the UPA, the CPM cannot afford to be too loud in its opposition.

8212; N. Kunju Delhi

China trajectory

n INDIA8217;S nuclear treaty with the US has turned out to be more than we had bargained for 8216;Now, Pak and China8217;,

IE, August 4. Our government

deserves a special applause for bringing about one of the biggest diplomatic victories in the history of the country. It gives us a direct access to US nuclear fuel and equipment and thus overturns a three-decade ban. If it has been

occasioned by America8217;s need to counterbalance and tame China, so be it. In any case, China is no friend of India8217;s 8212; we should never forget the 1962 war and the unresolved border issues with China.

8212; Varinder Singh Jawanda

New Delhi

Laugh, neutrons

n THE government8217;s claim that India has struck the N-deal with the US as 8220;an equal8221; is absurd enough to make a neutron laugh. All the dense fine-print

of the 123 Agreement boils down to this. If India tests an

N-device, the US reserves the right to take back all the material it has sold to India. What right of recall does India possess if the US tests an N-device? Let8217;s face it: we have entered into negotiations as supplicants, and now we have bound ourselves hand and foot to US diktat in all matters of nuclear energy.

8212; R.P. Subramanian Delhi

Let strays stay

n IN recent weeks stray dogs have mauled to death children in Bangalore, in three separate incidents. Such incidents take place regularly in every place and city. The so-called animal rights activists do agree that stray dogs pose a threat but still oppose action to curb the menace. Why don8217;t they protest when chickens are culled after a bird flu alert? Some have suggested that we catch all strays, put to sleep the old and ill, and vaccinate and sterilise the young and healthy. While endorsing this view, I must say that though the Mumbai municipality has tried to sterilise strays, the effectiveness of this programme has not yet been established. There is also another suggestion by the same municipality to relocate all strays to a farm in an

isolated area. This is a waste of public money. The municipality should use its funds to rehabilitate and relocate hutment dwellers, not dogs. The Indian Express should take up this

issue, as it has done so

many others.

8212; Shekar A. Amin Mumbai