Agence India Press Bureau,
New Delhi:The government today rejected Opposition charges of comprising national security and sovereignty by going in for the End-user Monitoring Agreement for US defence purchases, declaring that “every thing is very straight.”
“Question of bartering of our freedom and sovereignty does not arise. What was being done at the high-end defence purchases is being done now. End-use clause was incorporated earlier,” External Affairs Minister S M Krishna told the Lok Sabha, even as almost the entire Opposition, including the BJP and the Left parties, walked out of the House in protest.
Leading the walk-out, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani said the Opposition was dissatisfied with the suo-motu statement, as it failed to address the concerns expressed by members and the move would “send a wrong message” across the country.
Departing from the convention of not giving clarifications on statements in the Lok Sabha, Krishna said he was surprised by the kind of interpretation being given by the Opposition parties to the bilateral understanding and there was “nothing extraordinary” in it. “We are conscious of what we are doing,” he added.
“We tried to generalise it (EUMA) for high-end purchases with the US. Everything is very straight. We have done it in the interest of the country,” he said.
The pact, on verifying the end-use of US military hardware that India purchases, was signed Monday in the presence of External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and will pave way for more defence deals between the two countries.
A day after the signing, the opposition members in Lok Sabha accused the government of capitulating to US pressure.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Yashwant Sinha raised the issue in the Lok Sabha during zero hour, demanding a statement from the government. He said that the government should not have signed the deal when the house was in session without taking it into confidence.
“We are succumbing to the US pressure,” he maintained.
Associating himself with Sinha’s concerns, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said that the issue should be taken very seriously.
Former railways minister Lalu Prasad said the issue did not relate to any party but was intrinsic to the country’s national interests.
“This is a very big security related issue. Government is allowing American experts to examine our security establishments. Everything should be crystal clear,” he said.
The Left also made vocal its opposition to the deal.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) member Basudev Acharya said that the agreement should have been discussed in the house, while his party colleague Gurudas Dasgupta described it as a “Himalayan blunder”.
Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Sharad Yadav claimed that Indian foreign policy was bowing down to a foreign power and asked the government to make a suo-moto statement. Similar sentiments were expressed by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) member Bhartruhari Mahtab, who said it was a matter of concern that the government had signed the deal when parliament was in session.
After hearing the members express their concern, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is the leader of the house, got up to state that the government would make a statement on the deal later Tuesday.