'123 deal compromises India's strategic security'
Kochi,
Sep
2:
Asserting
that
the
''flawed
123
deal''
with
the
US
''compromises
India's
national
security'',
Leader
of
the
Opposition
L
K
Advani
today
said
Prime
Minister
Manmohan
Singh
should
explain
whether
previous
governments,
including
those
led
by
the
Congress,
had
''missed
the
bus''
by
refusing
to
sign
the
nuclear
Non-Proliferation
Treaty
(NPT).
Addressing a press conference here, the senior BJP leader said his party and the NDA were opposed to the 123 Agreement in its present form as it placed curbs on India's strategic capabilities.
Stating that the BJP has been an advocate of India becoming a nuclear weapons power since the 1960s (the erstwhile Jan Sangh passed a resolution to this effect in 1966), Mr Advani said the present agreement with the US was not acceptable as it sought to put curbs on any future nuclear testing by India.
''In case of any further nuclear tests by India, the 123 Agreement provides for a return of any nuclear fuel, equipment or reactors supplied by the United States. This poses curbs on our strategic capabilities and for this reason, the agreement is not acceptable to us,'' he added.
Stating that successive governments in the past had refused to sign the NPT for this reason, Mr Advani said the Manmohan Singh government had tacitly agreed to the NPT through the 123 Agreement with the US.
Asked about Dr Singh's statement that India could not afford to miss the nuclear bus this time, Mr Advani demanded that the prime minister explain whether previous governments, including those led by the Congress, had missed the bus by refusing to sign the NPT. Making out a difference between the Left parties' and the NDA's opposition to the 123 Agreement, Mr Advani said while the former's criticism rose from its ''innate anti-Americanism'', the latter was opposed to the agreement on grounds of national interest.
Demanding that the government renegotiate the agreement with the US, Mr Advani suggested that the UPA think in terms of enacting a domestic law to counter the negative provisions of the US Hyde Act and Atomic Energy Act.
This was necessary as the 123 Agreement provided that the agreement was subservient to the national laws of the two countries.
The Leader of the Opposition said according to expert opinion, not only was nuclear energy costly, it would also meet only a small part of India's energy requirements. In such a situation, it would be better for India to focus more on its immense potential for hydro-power, he said.
''The BJP would like to make the people aware that, in the name of energy security, the UPA Government is compromising India's national security through a flawed deal with the United States,'' he added.
UNI