By IANS
New Delhi : The joint United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-Left panel on the India-US nuclear deal held its first meeting Tuesday with the government identifying the issues that need to be discussed. These include the implications of the Hyde Act and the 123 agreement on the country’s foreign policy and nuclear programme.
According to the sources, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is convenor, submitted to the committee a two-page document on the implications of the proposed 123 agreement and the Hyde Act on the country’s foreign policy. The document also explains the legalities of treaty-making and its implications.
The 15-member committee in a statement after the meeting, held Tuesday afternoon in South Block, said the panel would in its upcoming meetings discuss the implications of the Hyde Act and the 123 agreement on the country’s self-reliance in nuclear energy.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the committee will also discuss the implications of the nuclear agreement on the foreign policy and security cooperation.
The committee, which has six members from the Congress, four from the Left parties and one each from UPA allies like the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party and DMK, will meet again on Sep 19.
Both the communists and the UPA would exchange notes on the issue in the meantime. The four Left parties will meet on Friday to discuss and finalise their arguments, which would be submitted to the government on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), one of the Left allies, gave in writing its reservations and concerns on the deal to the committee.
According to the RSP note, the Hyde Act, passed by the US Congress last December, violates the Vienna Convention which forbids signatories to enact laws that would cut into the sovereign rights of a country.
The RSP has also expressed its reservations on New Delhi’s strategic ties with the US. “Intention of the US is to enlist India as its ally in its predatory global adventures against countries such as Iran which stood up against the US hegemony,” the note says.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left parties, that extend crucial support to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition government, have opposed the nuclear agreement with Washington and warned the government of “serious consequences” if it operationalises the 123 agreement.
Pointing out its apprehensions over the Hyde Act, the RSP said that with the US implementing it, India will cease to have an independent nuclear programme.
“The Hyde Act goes beyond a civil nuclear deal. It is intended to smother India’s achievements in the nuclear sector and it dictates terms to the countries.
“The nuclear agreement is an unmistakable threat to India’s sovereignty and compromises the nation’s future security.”
The note went on: “Hyde Act cannot be seen in isolation. It has legislative, policy and security implications that go beyond the act. Once operationalised, it would endanger the country’s independent foreign policy and its pursuit for a free and self reliant nuclear programme.”
The second meeting of the committee has been scheduled for Sep 19 because Mukherjee is going on a foreign tour Thursday. He begins a tour of Southeast Asian countries from Sep 13, and after his tour leaves for the US on a 12-day visit from Sep 22.
Although the Left’s stance on the agreement had raised serious questions about the stability of the Congress-led government, the formation of the committee has eased the tension with both sides getting more time to settle their differences.