Congress firm in its stand on Indo-US nuke deal

New Delhi, Aug 21 (UNI) Asserting that national interest was the only "guiding polestar" in all the negotiations India had and would have with regard to the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation, the Congress Party today said that there had been exemplary transparency and participatory proceedings in the past two years.

"The entire process is in the public domain with maximum transparency," AICC Spokesman Abishek Manu Singhvi told mediapersons, indicating that there was no going back on the deal which is opposed vociferously by the Left parties, whose outside support is crucial to the survival of the three-year-old Manmohan Singh government.

In this context, he cited the statements on the deal made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the floor of the Parliament four times since July 2005. There were many joint declarations made by both India and the US on the deal.

Asked about the continuing deadlock with the Left parties over the nuclear deal issue, Dr Singhvi said every attempt was being made to satisfy all legitimate and genuine concerns. "All options of every conceivable kind are open...Let us not speculate." Asked if the government would go ahead with the IAEA negotiation in Vienna in September despite the stiff opposition from the Left, he said "whatever is the position in the last few months that continues... The position is unchanged...There is no change of any kind to report..." When a reporter sought to know the status of the proposed mechanism constituted last week to sort out the differences between the ruling UPA coalition and the Left parties, Dr Singhvi indicated that there was no such mechanism in existence. "Until and unless there is official announcement, how can you presume that there is such a mechanism." On a question on Indian Ambassador to US Ronen Sen condemning as "headless chickens" the detractors of the Indo-US nuclear deal, Dr Singhvi said the Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee had already made a statement on the issue on the floor of both houses of Parliament.

Mr Sen has clarified that he was misquoted. "However, it is unacceptable if whatever is attributed to Mr Sen is correct." UNI