PM misleads house on Nuke deal: Sinha

Jamshedpur, Aug 25 (UNI) Former External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha today alleged that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh misled both the houses of Parliament on the issue of nuclear deal.

Addressing a seminar on ''Nuclear Agreement and National Security,'' organised by the Jamshedpur Citizens' Forum, Mr Sinha said whenever the issue was raised in Parliament, he assured that the interests of the country would be protected but now after signing the agreement, India would have to carry out its nuclear programme at the mercy of the US.

He also lamented that for the first time the External Affairs ministry had failed to reach any consensus over an international issue.

In earlier occasions the government had always consensus on all important external issues, he said.

Mr Sinha said India had enough technological resources to develop its nuclear programme and the country would not have to rely on the technological aid from the US or other countries.

He said,''Our scientists had mastered on the Fast Breeder Reactors Technology in which the consumption of the uranium would be less.'' ''Our country had also huge quantity of Thorium depostis, which could be used as the substitute to Uranium to produce nuclear energy.'' Besides, the Geological Survey of India also discovered the deposits of Uranium in Andhra Pradesh and the mining work was already in progress.

''The US would sign this nulclear agreement to stop our own nuclear programme and the Indian foreign policy would also be dictated by the US,'' he added.

UNI