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Indian PM faces fresh heat over US nuclear deal
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Indian PM faces fresh heat over US nuclear deal
The Indian government came under renewed pressure yesterday over a controversial nuclear deal with the United States as lawmakers accused Washington of arm-twisting New Delhi to curb its atomic programme.
Not only was Washington seeking to indirectly cap New Delhi’s nuclear weapons programme, it was also trying to impinge on India’s right to pursue atomic research for peaceful purposes, they said.
The new criticism came in a debate in parliament amid rising concerns that US Congressmen were moving the goalposts over the deal through amendments to legislation that needs to be approved before the deal is sealed. “We have never been in any doubt over the deleterious impact of this deal,” Yashwant Sinha, a lawmaker from India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, told the upper house of parliament.“We believe it was meant to cap India’s nuclear weapons programme, our strategic programme,” said Sinha, the country’s previous Foreign Minister.
The parliament debate came weeks before the US Senate is expected to vote on the landmark deal after the House of Representatives gave overwhelming backing to it last month.
The deal also needs the joint approval of the two houses after negotiations on technical details of the pact and the backing of the Nuclear Suppliers Group of nations that regulates global atomic trade. The civilian nuclear cooperation pact gives nuclear-armed India access to US atomic fuel and equipment, despite New Delhi not having signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to help meet its soaring energy needs.
In return, New Delhi has agreed to international inspections of its civilian nuclear reactors and the segregation of its civilian and military programmes. Singh was due to speak in parliament later yesterday. But Sinha said lawmakers were unhappy with his past assurances.
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