By IANS
New Delhi : Amid charges and counter charges, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh denied Tuesday there was US pressure on India against signing a deal with Russia on the supply of four nuclear reactors in Tamil Nadu.
On two occasions, a hurt prime minister accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha of levelling “false charges” against him during a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
At one stage, Sinha alleged: “Our prime minister got no time for Shanghai because the US does not like the Shanghai Cooperation Council.”
A visibly annoyed Manmohan Singh rose to state: “The honourable member is levelling false charges. All I wanted was that when the Indian prime minister goes, he should not sit on the sidelines in the coffee shop but share the high table.”
Undeterred, Sinha made a fresh allegation that Manmohan Singh deferred the signing of purchase of four nuclear reactors for Koodankulam power plant from Russia on his visit to Moscow because of US pressure.
This annoyed Manmohan Singh even more and he got up again to say: “I am willing to clarify right now. The draft (of the purchase agreement) of four reactors was ready. But that agreement could have been operationalised only if India had secured the approval of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and satisfied the NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group). Since these two conditions are still in the process, Russia fully understands this, and all the rest is false propaganda here and outside.”
The BJP leader remained unapologetic and persisted with greater stridency: “I allege with full seriousness that you have come under US pressure not to sign that (Indo-Russian) agreement.”
The prime minister rose again: “Mr. Sinha is levelling false charges. Perhaps he is reminded of his own times when as the finance minister he was not allowed to meet the finance minister of France.”
This remark hurt Sinha who retorted: “Now he has come to a very personal level.”
The exchange caused a commotion in the house with members from both sides on their legs. It took Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan quite some time and effort to restore order.