By IANS
New Delhi : The possibility of a compromise between the government and its Left allies appears increasingly bleak with top Communist leader Prakash Karat Thursday saying that the communist parties have “made up their mind” to block the India-US civil nuclear deal and would not support the government if it went ahead with it.
Karat also contended that the government was “determined to go ahead with the deal” despite a majority in parliament opposing the contentious deal which aims to “draw India into a military alliance with the US.”
“We have made up our mind. We won’t be there to help the government to conclude the agreement. It’s now for the government to decide,” Karat said at a seminar on the India-US nuclear deal, which was chaired by Communist Party of India leader A.B. Bardhan and attended, among others, by former prime minister V.P. Singh.
In a revelation that may put the government on the defensive, Karat said for the first time that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) included “strategic partnership with the US” in the first two drafts of the Common Minimum Programme. This was struck out from the final version after the Left parties raised objections to it, he said.
“Why is the government determined to go ahead despite the clear and established fact that the parties who are opposed to the deal constitute a minority in parliament?” Karat, the Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary, asked.
Karat’s statement has put in question the efficacy of the joint mechanism comprising the government and the Left parties that prop up the ruling coalition to address its concerns about the implications of the nuclear deal on India’s strategic programme and foreign policy.
With the government saying that it is not bound by the UPA-Left committee’s findings, the window is fast closing for compromise between the two sides.
Taking potshots at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh without naming him, Karat said: “Does the PM believe Bush is the greatest friend of India? The most hated president in the US is our greatest benefactor.”
Alluding to the 10-year defence framework agreement India signed with the US over two years ago, Karat also mocked the US’ claims to make India a major world power.
“What has happened to great friends of Bush? British Prime Minister Tony Blair is no longer around. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has quit. Australian Prime Minister John Howard is on his way out. They are all going,” said Karat in an ominous hint that the Manmohan Singh government may not survive should the Left parties withdraw support, making mid-term polls inevitable.
Alluding to non-Congress constituents of the UPA like Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party and Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam, Karat hinted that the nuclear deal was set to become a key issue in the next elections. “All these parties in the government will have to answer to the people,” he said.
V.P. Singh was equally unstinting in his rejection of the deal and charged that the 123 bilateral agreement contains several “bondage” clauses that could shackle India’s strategic autonomy and reduce it to a “bonded labour” of the US interests.
“The government refuses to listen to the Indian parliament, and instead listens to (US President George) Mr Bush and goes by his time table,” Singh said.
“For the first time, the prime minister is confronting a majority in parliament (which is opposed to the deal),” said Singh.
He pointed to four “bondage clauses” in the 123 agreement – pertaining to circumstances of termination, the US’ right of return of nuclear materials sold to India, and the proposed plan to place Indian civil nuclear reactors under safeguards in perpetuity – to stress that the deal militated against India’s fundamental national interests.
Alluding to the termination clause in Article 14 of the 123 bilateral agreement, he said: “It doesn’t specify circumstances that can lead to termination of the agreement. Even India’s foreign policy choices that don’t suit the US can trigger that. This clause is like the sword of Damocles hanging over our head.”
Referring to the right of return clause, Singh said the investment of over $20 billion (“over Rs one lakh crore”) India will make in imported nuclear reactors and technologies will act as a “paperweight” on India’s mind were they to return the US-origin nuclear technology.
“It will be a colossal loss. This will act as a paperweight on the government’s mind before doing anything that may trigger termination.”
Singh also argued that despite the government’s disclaimers, the Hyde Act of the US will be applicable to the bilateral agreement. “The Hyde Act is hidden in it,” he said.
M.J. Akbar, editor-in-chief of The Asian Age and a critic of the nuclear deal, said the government’s hurry to get the deal through raised serious questions about it.
“What’s the hurry? Even China took 15 years to do the nuclear deal with the US. We are only asking for a few months,” he said.
“Our present government seems to be following an American, and not an Indian calendar,” he said.