US Act not acceptable: BJP

Asked what the BJP would do if the Government still went ahead with the deal, Sinha said, 8220;We would exercise the only option which is available in a democracy: we would go to people.8221; L K Advani and Jaswant Singh, leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively, were also present.

Sinha said: 8220;Its Act8217;s provisions fly in the face of the assurances given by the Prime Minister to Parliament from time to time.8221; The Act, according to him, 8220;aims at capping, rolling back and eventually eliminating India8217;s nuclear weapons capability8221;.

Elaborating, he said there is an absolute ban on further tests, including sub-critical tests and those for peaceful purposes. He felt it will 8220;completely stymie India8217;s technical advancement in this vital sphere8221;. 8220;By going in for an agreement under this legislation, the Government is binding India8217;s future8212;in security as well as technical advancement,8221; they added.

Shourie was dismissive of the contention that one has to wait till the bilateral deal is inked. 8220;Are the US Congress and the President bound by this Act or not?,8221; he asked. Shourie said the 8220;final product8221;, for which the PM asked us to wait, is before us. He contended that the US Administration 8220;is bound to ensure that the bilateral 123 agreement, the IAEA safeguard agreement, the Additional Protocol and the NSG consensus on the deal are in line with the Act of the US Congress.8221;

The BJP leaders said the US Act 8220;leaves us in doubt that the purpose of the deal is to impose on India, bilaterally, conditionalities which are worse than those incorporated in the NPT and the CTBT, in perpetuity and without an exit clause8221;. That is why a three-and-a-half-page Bill, which was suggested by the US Administration to the Congress became a 23-page Bill in the US Senate and the final Act is now a 41-page document. They alleged that the US has been shifting goalposts ever since the July 2005 deal and the Indian Government has not only been acquiescing in it, but adopting them as the latest benchmark.

Sinha and Shourie observed the Act militates against full civil nuclear co-operation with India; there is no assurance of uninterrupted fuel supply even for our civilian nuclear reactors; India cannot reprocess the used fuel nor ship it back to the US unless US Congress approves the reshipment, moratorium on the production of fissile material remains a key US objective; India has been forbidden nuclear testing even of the kind permitted by the CTBT and the US retains the right to carry out its own end use verification, making India8217;s nuclear programme subjective to intrusive US scrutiny.

Both BJP leaders felt the principle of parity stands abandoned. Worse, the Act compromises independence of our foreign policy. Shourie said, 8220;India is not required to just toe the US-line on Iran, but is also required to ensure that its foreign policy will be congruent with that of the US.8221;

When reporters pointed out that the BJP was negotiating a similar deal during its rule, Sinha said, 8220;I state this with the fullest sense of responsibility that we were nowhere near the deal which is in our hands now. It is nothing but a misleading propaganda by the Government.8221;