By IANS
New Delhi : The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) Monday rejected the government’s offer of an experts’ group to study the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement and instead suggested a joint parliamentary panel to assess the pact.
The two opposition groupings issued separate statements asking for a joint panel of the two houses of parliament to go into the whole deal and evaluate the deal’s advantages and damages.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which leads the four-party Left bloc that props the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, had Sunday suggested setting up a panel or mechanism to study the implications of the Hyde Act and putting any further progress on the nuclear on hold till it submits its report.
The Hyde Act is the American domestic law that permits civil nuclear cooperation with India.
However, the UPA leadership, which met late Sunday and decided to set up the experts’ panel, refused to put the deal on hold.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra told reporters: “This is no family matter between the Congress and the Left which can be resolved thus.”
He demanded a parliamentary committee to study and report on the 123 agreement between India and the US that would pave the way for exchange of nuclear energy and supplies between the two countries.
“This is a serious issue concerning all the people all over the country. Only a parliamentary panel can articulate and protect the interests of all the people of the country. Therefore, till such a committee is formed no other panel should be constituted,” he said.
Samajwadi Party (SP) general secretary and spokesperson Amar Singh echoed his views and said the CPI-M was in constant touch with the UNPA alliance — of which the Samajwadi Party, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and AIADMK are the leading constituents.
A team of India’s Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) is currently in Vienna to negotiate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to put in place the prerequisites for India to commence its plans to harness civilian nuclear energy.
With the 123 agreement accepted by both countries, the nuclear agreement has to be approved by the US Congress and the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group before full-fledged nuclear commerce can begin.
The deal seeks to open full nuclear energy cooperation with energy-starved India after a gap of 30 years. This cooperation was suspended after India conducted nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998.