Govt stand on hyde act ambiguous: BJP

New Delhi, Mar 3 (UNI) Maintaining its reservations on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the BJP today raised doubts at External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement in the Lok Sabha that the Hyde Act will not apply to India.

''"There is a duality in the approach on the Hyde Act. The US officials say that the deal will be governed by the Hyde Act, while Mr Mukherjee pointed out that it will not,'' BJP parliamentary party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra pointed out.

He said the US officials had even gone to the extent of threatening that the deal would be off, if not sent back by India for approval by the US Congress before May.

''The BJP will like to know if India is going to tell the US that it should modify the deal, with regard to the Hyde Act which is not acceptable (to India),'' he asserted.

He, however, maintained that the BJP was all for cooperation with the US and it was only opposed to the application of the Hyde Act.

Asked if the Hyde Act was amended in the context of the deal, would the BJP accept the agreement, Mr Malhotra said ''the party has reservations over the deal. But, at this point of time, the issue is the Hyde Act,'' he said.

UNI KAS YA KP1659