By IANS
New Delhi : With the Left allies and a hostile opposition upping the ante over the India-US nuclear pact, the government Thursday said it was not bound by the Hyde Act of the US, that contains certain “extraneous and prescriptive” provisions, and the country retains its “sovereign right to test”.
“Whatever stated in Hyde Act is not binding on us. How they (US) deal with it is their problem,” External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in Parliament House.
Mukherjee’s remarks came on a day when the opposition as well as the Left parties, that cited US State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack’s statement that the nuclear deal would be terminated if New Delhi tested a nuclear device, stalled the proceedings of both houses alleging that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had misled parliament on the nuclear agreement.
According to Mukherjee, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left parties, that rejected the nuclear deal, will hold another round of discussions after their party meetings Friday and Saturday.
Earlier in the day in a statement in the Lok Sabha, the foreign minister asserted that a decision to undertake a future nuclear test would be New Delhi’s sovereign decision, “resting solely with the government of India.
“India has the sovereign right to test and would do so if it is necessary in national interest,” he maintained, adding: “There is nothing in the (123) bilateral agreement that would tie the hands of a future government or legally constrain its options (to test),” he said amidst loud protests from the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) and Left MPs’ who walked out of the chamber.
Continued protests over the nuclear deal saw the Rajya Sabha, the upper house, too being adjourned for the day when it met after the lunch recess.
Talking to journalists in his Parliament House office, Mukherjee said there were many “extraneous and prescriptive” provisions in the Hyde Act and they were not acceptable to India.
Section 103 of the Hyde Act contains provisions of India’s cooperation in containing Iran’s nuclear programme and New Delhi halting fissile material production. It also suggests that the US would oppose development of a capability to produce nuclear weapons by any non-nuclear weapon state within or outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime.
Pointing out that the Hyde Act was between the US Congress and US administration, Mukherjee said its provisions were not going to be India’s concern. “It is for the US government to decide how they will respond to the laws passed by their Parliament, he said.
Mukherjee maintained that the 123 agreement between New Delhi and Washington would not be “touching the strategic programme” and that the country could continue its indigenous and research and development for feasible nuclear energy.
According to Mukherjee, the only restraint to nuclear testing was the “voluntary unilateral moratorium” declared by the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and being continued by the present administration.
The minister maintained that “nowhere” in the 123 agreement was testing mentioned.
“The bilateral cooperation agreement contains elaborate provisions in Articles 5 and 14 to ensure the continuous operation of India’s reactors. These include fuel supply assurances, the right to take corrective measures and a strategic fuel reserve for the lifetime of India’s reactors in case of cessation of cooperation,” Mukherjee contended.
Meanwhile, the government’s attempts to convince its warring Left allies were continuing. “I am in touch with them,” Mukherjee said. The foreign minister had a detailed discussion with CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury over the deal.
Sources in the Left said they wanted the government to explore the possibilities for a re-negotiation of the deal, something which Manmohan Singh had ruled out. Yechury indicated that the communists have asked the government to ensure perpetuity in fuel supply during New Delhi’s negotiations with the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not ready to accept government’s arguments. The party announced that it would move a privilege motion against Manmohan Singh for “misleading” the house.
Quoting the Article 2(1) of the 123 pact, which says each party will implement the agreement in accordance with their national law, former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha said the clause constrained India’s strategic autonomy.
“The US national laws include the Atomic Energy Act 1964, US NPT 1978 and the Hyde Act 2006. All these have provision that constrains India,” Sinha said.
The BJP and the Left MPs had disrupted the proceedings of both houses leading to repeated adjournments in both houses, alleging that Manmohan Singh had misled parliament on the nuclear deal and insisted he give an explanation to the nation.
Manmohan Singh has been stressing that India’s sovereignty would be maintained on the issue of conducting nuclear tests.