Opinion Ties too tight

Karat says that the cables reveal the US’s influential position in various spheres — strategic affairs,foreign policy and economic policies. Washington has access to the bureaucracy,military,security and intelligence systems,at several levels. He deals at length with New Delhi’s vote against Iran in 2005,Washington’s influence in the cabinet reshuffle a year later,the US succeeding in getting India to coordinate policy towards Nepal,Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and the close cooperation with Israel under the aegis of the US. “The success achieved in getting India’s foreign policy to be ‘congruent’ to US policy is smugly stated in an embassy cable that Indian officials are ‘loath to admit publicly that India and the US have begun coordinating foreign policies’,” he says.

The nuclear option

An article titled “Fukushima: radioactive cloud over nuclear renaissance” says the “only the very foolish” will argue that Fukushima’s near-meltdown does not warrant a relook at the nuclear energy polices of the world or of India. “While nuclear energy could remain a serious option on the table,we must also accept that taking it off the table is also an option,” it argues. In the light of Fukushima,it says that apart from reviewing the safety of Tarapur plant — which is an even older GE-designed light water reactor — there is a need to review the design of the Kudankulam reactor for an accident of this type.

“If nuclear energy is thought to be necessary,the only way of going about it would be smaller plants,smaller unit sizes and disperse them in different places. Clustering a number of units in one place is another example of trying to reduce costs and thereby increasing the risks,” it says.

The article argues that it was time India had a serious debate on nuclear energy: “Instead of this being a secretive affair between the prime minister’s office and the department of atomic energy,we need to bring the light of day into this.”

Leaky pot and kettle

While arguing that the WikiLeaks cables on the cash-for-votes episode has put the UPA in the dock,the editorial in CPI weekly New Age also takes potshots at the BJP.

It says that while the prime minister has questioned the cables sent by the US embassy in Delhi,his party has confirmed their authenticity by attempting to corner BJP on the basis of similar cables,that talked of the “double-speak” of BJP leaders on the Indo-US nuclear deal.

It says while opposing the nuclear deal in Parliament,outside it,BJP leaders were assuring the US ambassador of their loyalty. “During the past three years,on a number of occasions,the BJP and Congress have reached ‘consensus’ on major policy issues. So it is futile to look for ‘differentiations’ between the two major bourgeois parties on such policy issues,” it says.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

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