New Delhi, December 11
India should not negotiate further with Washington on the civilian nuclear cooperation as the Bill passed by the US Congress and the Senate undermines New Delhi’s independent foreign policy, said Prakash Karat, CPM general secretary here today.
The Bill passed by the US “negates the most significant, if not all, assurances given by the Prime Minister to Indian Parliament. Thus, further negotiations on this score must not proceed,” Karat categorically stated.
The party general secretary demanded a full-fledged debate in Parliament saying “nothing short of the assurances made by the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) on August 17, can be acceptable”.
The Left reaction to the Indo-US nuclear deal comes a day after the BJP demanded that the UPA government rejected the deal in its present form.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to make a statement on the deal in Parliament on December 18 and 19.
Dismissing the argument of some sections of the UPA government that the Bill was not binding on US President and the skeptics should wait for the bilateral negotiations, Karat said such an argument was “specious.”
