By Manish Chand, IANS
Johannesburg/New Delhi : In a last-ditch effort to salvage the India-US civil nuclear deal, the government is considering a law similar to the Hyde Act that will address Left’s concerns on India’s strategic autonomy and reiterate the government’s commitment to an independent foreign policy.
The government is open to the idea, but it is for the Left parties to first propose it, a highly placed official source told IANS ahead of the UPA-Left meeting on Oct 22.
“Unless the Left parties make a proposal for a national law, we can’t move ahead on this idea,” said the source, indicating the government’s desperation to save the nuclear deal which has come to symbolise India’s growing stature on the world stage.
While returning from Johannesburg Thursday, Manmohan Singh told journalists that his government had not given up hope of operationalising the nuclear deal as it was continuing the process of building a national consensus on the nuclear deal. “Consultations with Left parties are on. I would not like to pre-judge the result,” he replied when asked what outcome he expected of the meeting on October 22.
The idea of a national legislation on the nuclear deal, similar to the US Hyde Act, was first proposed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before India and the US finalised the bilateral 123 civil nuclear agreement in early August.
The government had then rejected the idea, saying there was no need for such an exercise as the Indian and American political systems are very different and such legislation would tie up its hands in negotiating the pact.
Manmohan Singh had given pointed assurances about nine objections raised by the Left parties in parliament on Aug 17 last year. “Hence, there is really no need. But we are ready to walk the extra mile for the sake of the deal,” the source said.
After the 123 pact was finalised, the Left, however, hardened its position and raised concerns that the Hyde Act, which stipulates extra conditions for India in its non-binding sections, will override the 123 pact and therefore the nuclear deal was not in national interest.
The government sought to rebut this argument saying that the 123 would have the status of an international agreement after being operationalised by the two sides and therefore would override the Hyde Act.
But now with the clock ticking away and India’s safeguards agreement with the IAEA on hold, the government has realised that it has to come out with a reasonable compromise with the Left if it wants to operationalise the path-breaking nuclear deal that would reopen doors of global civil nuclear commerce to New Delhi.
The government is deeply worried that the failure to operationalise the nuclear deal would not be a big blow to one’s credibility, but will also affect India’s image in the world community.
Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury Friday said he expected the government’s final stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal to be announced on Oct 22, fuelling speculation that the elusive compromise between the government and the Left may be possible yet.
The failure to operationalise the deal in 2008 could sound the death-knell to the ambitious initiative to bring India into the global nuclear mainstream as otherwise the entire deal would have to be renegotiated afresh between the new regime in the US and possibly in India.
If India-specific safeguards are not in place by the end of the year, other two steps – rule change by the Nuclear Suppliers Group and endorsement by the US Congress – will become difficult with election fever taking grip of Washington, making the nuclear deal virtually dead.