We stand vindicated, says CPM on Berman 145;revelations146;

The CPIM on Wednesday latched on to the disclosures made by US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard L Berman on the Indo-US nuclear deal...

The CPIM on Wednesday latched on to the disclosures made by US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard L Berman on the Indo-US nuclear deal, saying the 8220;false claims8221; made by the Manmohan Singh Government have been exposed completely and claimed that proceeding with the deal will mortgage India8217;s sovereignty.

The disclosures that the US will not sell sensitive nuclear technologies to India and would immediately terminate civil nuclear trade if New Delhi conducted an atomic test, provided much-needed ammunition to the major Left party whose campaign against the Government on the nuclear deal issue has been losing steam, especially since the joint campaign with UNPA parties, BSP and the JDS has not taken off.

8220;The Left Parties had warned the UPA Government about these provisions in the notes submitted to the UPA-Left Coordination Committee, which have now been vindicated by this disclosure. Each of the commitments made by the Prime Minister in Parliament have been violated,8221; the CPIM said.

The CPIM Politburo issued a statement quoting the correspondence between the US State Department and members of the US Congress made public by Berman to attack the UPA Government.

It said the correspondence revealed that the US has given no binding fuel-supply assurance to India, there is no US consent to India8217;s stockpiling of lifetime fuel reserves for safeguarded power reactors, civil nuclear cooperation is explicitly conditioned to India not testing ever again and the US has retained the right to suspend or terminate supplies at its own discretion.

Further, the letters makes it clear that the US Government will not assist India in the design, construction or operation of sensitive nuclear technologies 8212; including enrichment and reprocessing 8212; and the 123 Agreement has granted India no right to take corrective measures in case of any fuel-supply disruption and it fully conforms to the Hyde Act provisions, the party said.

The correspondence made public by Berman reveals the answers provided by the Bush administration to the clarifications sought on various aspects of the 123 agreement by US congressmen.

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Claiming that the answers provided by the Bush administration was kept secret so far because it would have completely exposed the false claims made by the Government regarding the terms of the nuclear deal, the CPIM demanded suspension of all further moves to operationalise the 8220;anti-national8221; nuclear deal.