Indo-US nuke deal: BJP delegation to meet PM

New Delhi, July 26: A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation led by former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will meet Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh later in the day to discuss the recent developments over the Indo-US civilian nuclear energy cooperation.

Dr. Singh will brief Vajpayee, who will be accompanied by former Foreign Ministers Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, BJP President Rajnath Singh and Arun Shourie, on the significant features of the recently agreed text of the 123-agreement, which is the operational part of the deal.

According to party sources, former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani will not be present at the meeting, as he is scheduled to leave for Singapore today to attend a Sindhi conference.

The BJP, which has been opposing the pact, has been demanding the government take the opposition into confidence on the progress in the agreement.

Dr. Singh on Wednesday evening briefed the leaders of the Left parties about the agreement and assured them that the nuclear deal would address all the apprehensions that the Left had raised.

The whole text of the agreement will be shared with the Left parties on August 2 after which they will meet the government.

The Union Cabinet has already approved the text of the bilateral 123-agreement worked upon by senior Indian and American officials in Washington last week.

The Cabinet's approval paves the way for the finalisation of the civilian nuclear energy cooperation between the two countries.

Details of the bilateral pact, which the two sides struggled to put together, have not been made public, but a joint statement issued after the talks in Washington last week said they had made 'substantial progress'.

Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee also did not divulge the details of the 123-agreement, the operational part of the nuclear, but said that it would be simultaneously announced by both the nations.

The Government will make a statement on the salient features of the agreement on first day of the Monsoon session of the Parliament, which is slated to commence on August 10.

The deal aims to give India access to the US nuclear fuel and equipments for the first time in 30 years, to help meet its soaring energy needs.

The next step towards formalising nuclear cooperation between Washington and New Delhi include approval by the US Congress, India to negotiate a country-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

The NSG would need to amend its guidelines to permit civilian nuclear commerce with India.

ANI>