By IANS
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will make a statement in parliament later Thursday on India’s right to continue weapons’ tests once the civilian nuclear deal with the US comes into force.
“They will decide who makes the statement,” Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters as he emerged from an hour-long meeting with Mukherjee in Parliament House Thursday.
Even as he sought clarification on the issue of weapons’ tests, Yechury offered a silver lining on the deal itself by saying India should seek safeguards on the question of fuel supplies.
“The (enabling) 123 agreement is silent on what happens if all countries stop supplying nuclear fuel. There is enough scope for negotiations (with the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the International Atomic Energy Agency) on ensuring fuel supplies in perpetuity,” he maintained.
Earlier Thursday, opposition and Left MPs forced the adjournment of both houses of parliament as they disrupted proceedings, alleging that Manmohan Singh had misled the house on the nuclear deal.
While the Lok Sabha was adjourned twice – first for half an hour at 11 a.m. and later till 2 p.m. – due to disruptions by MPs of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) and the Left, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for an hour.
As the Lok Sabha met, MPs of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left were on their feet shouting that the prime minister had misled parliament on the nuclear deal and insisted he give an explanation to the nation.
The MPs were referring to US State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack’s statement Wednesday that the nuclear deal would be terminated if New Delhi tested a nuclear device.
Manmohan Singh has been stressing that India’s sovereignty would be maintained on the issue of conducting nuclear tests.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, while adjourning the Lok Sabha, expressed his unhappiness over the acrimonious scenes and said: “What an image you are giving to the country…you have no sense of responsibility. I am ashamed of you.”
The speaker had earlier introduced to the house a visiting German delegation that was seated in the diplomat’s gallery.
When the house met again, MPs continued to disrupt the house over the nuclear deal, ignoring the speaker’s repeated pleas to take up the matter at 12 noon. Chatterjee said the members were not keen to run the house and adjourned it till 2 p.m.
Meanwhile, BJP members were also on their feet, seeking permission to raise the issue of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi’s release in Argentina Wednesday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) maintains that Quattrocchi took $7 million in bribes as a middleman in the $1.2 billion purchase of Swedish howitzers for the Indian Army. Quattrocchi insists the Indian authorities have framed him.
Chaotic scenes were witnessed in the Rajya Sabha too, with MPs running towards the podium and raising slogans against the prime minister. The house was adjourned till 12 noon.