If Left has made up its mind, why be part of N-panel: Sibal

By Faraz Ahmad, IANS

New Delhi : Why is the Left taking part in a joint committee with the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to study the India-US nuclear deal if it has already made up its mind to reject it, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal wants to know.


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Reacting to Left leader Prakash Karat’s statement that “we will not be there to back the deal if the government goes ahead with it”, Sibal told IANS: “You ask them what are they doing in the committee? Why ask me? He (Karat) must explain to the people why he wishes to go forward if he has said what he has said.”

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary made the statement at a seminar Thursday, implicitly threatening to withdraw support to the government if it went ahead with the civil nuclear deal. The Left, Karat said, knew what it had to do.

Sibal, who has emerged as a big defender of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Indo-US deal at a time when not many Congressmen are ready to play that role, also took exception to the Left-Right attack insinuating the prime minister has a soft corner for the US.

“I can say this, that to allege that the prime minister is anybody’s agent is a great disrespect to him personally, to the office of the prime minister and the people of India,” Sibal said.

He also dismissed suggestions that India will succumb to US attempts to sell off its obsolete nuclear reactors as a consequence of the nuclear deal.

“You think we will buy obsolete technology from the US? Under the agreement, we are not obligated to buy nuclear reactors from the US.”

But the Congress minister refrained from reacting to speculative reports alleging that the Left was objecting to the Indo-US deal at China’s instance.

“Despite the fact that the Left has questioned our motivation, we are far too mature to question theirs,” Sibal said.

He also insisted that nuclear technology would be economical for India in the long run. The Left maintains the opposite.

A 15-member UPA-Left panel headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee held its first meeting last week and decided to discuss the impact of the Hyde Act and the 123 agreement on India’s foreign policy and indigenous nuclear development. A second meeting will be held Wednesday.

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