By IANS
New Delhi : The Left parties Monday hit back at Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the Indo-US nuclear deal, saying that India was capable of developing nuclear energy “primarily on a self-reliant basis”.
Speaking a day after Gandhi alleged that critics of the nuclear deal were against the country’s development, the Left parties said there was no need to “surrender our vital interests to America” on the plea of nuclear energy.
“The Left parties categorically reiterate that the nuclear deal with the US is against the interests of India,” the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and its three allies said in a brief joint statement.
“Those who advocate the deal should know that India is capable of developing nuclear energy primarily on a self-reliant basis. We need not surrender our vital interests to America on this plea.”
The other signatories to the statement were the Communist Party of India (CPI), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and Forward Bloc.
On Sunday, addressing a rally in a Hayrana town, Gandhi said that the nuclear deal with the US was “necessary for the country to keep the pace of development going”.
Without taking any party’s name, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson also said that those opposing the pact were against the country’s development.
“Those who have been creating hindrances in the implementation of development programmes were enemies of not only the Congress government but also of the common people. Therefore, such elements should be given a befitting reply,” she has said.
The Left, which supports Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition government, has been the most vocal critic of the India-US deal. They say the pact will make India a junior partner to the US in strategic and foreign affairs.
The communists have warned of “serious consequences” if the government makes the nuclear deal operational.