Nuke deal is ok if India's shift to thorium is possible: Yechury

Ahmedabad, Dec 9 (UNI) Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member and MP Sitaram Yechury today said his party would not have any objection to the Indo-US nuclear deal if the US did not obstruct India from shifting from uranium to thorium processing.

''India has the largest share of world's thorium reserves, almost 30 percent, and we would not want US or any major power to thwart the move for which research is on,'' he told reporters here at the IIM campus, where he had been invited to deliver a lecture.

He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh must stick to his assurance given in Parliament that the Government would not accept any conditions in the nuclear deal with the United States that would adversely affect the nation's interests.

''Our main worry was that India should practice its own foreign policy and not take dictates from anyone,'' he said.

Asked about his stance on the Singur deal with Tatas and Mamata Banerjee's opposition to it, Mr Yechury said the farmers are being amply compensated for the land they have to give up. ''It is probably the best compensation package, that the farmers have got.

The government had for the project allotted 997.11 acres of land, of which 960 acres has come voluntarily and rest 37 acres belonged to non-resident owners. Apart from a monetary package of Rs 8.5 lakh per acre, the farmers and women are being given training in alternate professions such as catering etc. Even the tenants and landless labourers will get one-fourth of the compensation pack.'' He alleged that the Trinamul leader had brought in people from outside to stage protests.

On compensation package for the Gujarat riot victims, Mr Yechury said a delegation of MPs had come to assess the rehabilitation measures taken for them and the issue will come up for discussion in Parliament.

UNI MMG MJ VD BD1759