By IANS
New Delhi : India asserted Thursday it retained the sovereign right to test nuclear weapons, even as both houses of parliament were adjourned for the day with opposition MPs alleging that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had misled the house on the India-US civilian nuclear deal.
“A decision to undertake a future nuclear test would be India’s sovereign decision, resting solely with the government of India,” External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a statement in the Lok Sabha.
“India has the sovereign right to test and would do so if it is necessary in national interest,” he maintained, adding: “There is nothing in the (123) bilateral agreement that would tie the hands of a future government or legally constrain its options (to test).”
Members of the opposition Samajwadi Party and the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) crowded the speaker’s podium even as the minister spoke, raising slogans against the nuclear deal. The Left parties walked out in protest.
As the din continued even after Mukherjee concluded his statement, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee adjourned the house for the third time Thursday – this time for the day. The earlier adjournments had come during the pre-lunch session.
Continued protests over the nuclear deal saw the Rajya Sabha too being adjourned for the day when it met after the lunch recess.
According to Mukherjee, the only restraint to nuclear testing was the “voluntary unilateral moratorium” declared by the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and being continued by the present administration.
The minister maintained that “nowhere” in the 123 agreement was testing mentioned.
“The bilateral cooperation agreement contains elaborate provisions in Articles 5 and 14 to ensure the continuous operation of India’s reactors. These include fuel supply assurances, the right to take corrective measures and a strategic fuel reserve for the lifetime of India’s reactors in case of cessation of cooperation,” Mukherjee contended.
US State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack’s was quoted as saying Wednesday that the nuclear deal would be terminated if New Delhi tested a nuclear device. This attracted the ire of MPs when the parliament session began Thursday.
However, the Left walkout during the minister’s statement was rather ironic as this was the via media that had been worked out during a meeting between Mukherjee and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury.
“They (Manmohan Singh or Mukherjee) will decide who makes the statement,” Yechury told reporters as he emerged from the hour-long meeting in Parliament House.
Even as he sought clarification on the issue of weapons’ tests, Yechury offered a silver lining on the deal itself by saying India should seek safeguards on the question of fuel supplies.
“The 123 agreement is silent on what happens if all countries stop supplying nuclear fuel. There is enough scope for negotiations (with the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the International Atomic Energy Agency) on ensuring fuel supplies in perpetuity,” he maintained.
Earlier Thursday, the Lok Sabha was adjourned twice – first for half an hour at 11 a.m. and later till 2 p.m. – due to disruptions by MPs of the UNPA and the Left. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for an hour at 11 a.m. and then for the day when it met at 12.05 p.m.
As the Lok Sabha met, MPs of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left were on their feet shouting that the prime minister had misled parliament on the nuclear deal and insisted he give an explanation to the nation.
Manmohan Singh has been stressing that India’s sovereignty would be maintained on the issue of conducting nuclear tests.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, while adjourning the Lok Sabha, expressed his unhappiness over the acrimonious scenes and said: “What an image you are giving to the country…you have no sense of responsibility. I am ashamed of you.”
The speaker had earlier introduced to the house a visiting German delegation that was seated in the diplomat’s gallery.
When the house met again, MPs continued to disrupt the house over the nuclear deal, ignoring the speaker’s repeated pleas to take up the matter at 12 noon. Chatterjee said the members were not keen to run the house and adjourned it till 2 p.m.
Meanwhile, BJP members were also on their feet, seeking permission to raise the issue of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi’s release in Argentina Wednesday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) maintains that Quattrocchi took $7 million in bribes as a middleman in the $1.2 billion purchase of Swedish howitzers for the Indian Army. Quattrocchi insists the Indian authorities have framed him.