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India should go ahead with N-deal

HK. DUA’s front-page editorial, “India must not go back on nuclear deal” (June 20) deserves to be endorsed since it concerns not only our ever-increasing requirements for nuclear energy but also because other vital national interests are at stake.

The treaty, which was signed three years back, must be honoured and not allowed to die down merely because of some unprincipled, frivolous and misplaced objections of the Left leaders who habitually display their arrogance and intransigence.

As rightly questioned in the editorial, where will we get enriched uranium from and how will we gain access to high technology for further development of nuclear programmes for industrial growth and space programmes? The Left’s veiled threat to withdraw support to the UPA government at a time when the country is passing through a bad patch due to rising prices is sad and politically motivated. The Prime Minister would do well to seal the deal promptly.

Brig GOVIND SINGH KHIMTA (retd), Shimla

II

It is sad that the nuclear deal has become a bone of contention between the UPA and the Left and even the survival of the Manmohan Singh government is at stake. However, the UPA has the majority support because the people are not convinced by the Left, particularly when we have come so far.

Any more dithering over the deal or cancelling it at this stage will put us behind by at least 10 years in terms of our international standing. We will also lose our face. So, the UPA government, with the help of its allies and even if it is minus the Left, should go ahead with the deal and pursue it to its logical conclusion.

The government may fall. So what? At least the nation will respect and thank the UPA government for being bold and being good to the nation. In any case, a weak government rarely returns to power. So, better the UPA go for it.

MADHU R.D. SINGH, Army School, Ambala Cantonment

III

The Left has been scuttling the deal on the apprehension that this may bring India closer to the US. However, it has failed to appreciate the vital need of the nuclear deal for our country.

Backing out from the deal at this stage will not only slur the credentials of  the duly elected government but we may lose the opportunity which Dr Manmohan Singh created with his vision of 21st century India. In the fitness of things, as advocated by Mr Dua, Dr Manmohan Singh should go ahead for the success of the deal even if he is to sacrifice the government as no sacrifice is bigger than the national interest.

S.S. ARORA, Mohali

IV

Mr Dua has made a telling observation in his front-page editorial: “There comes a time when those who have taken upon themselves the responsibility to lead a nation or a cause have to bite the bullet and move on to achieve the desired aim”.

The Left is trying to reap the political dividends by opposing the deal because of its ideology which has lost its relevance in the present global scenario. Even China is not shying away to buy the western capital tools to achieve economic and industrial growth to become a super power after the USSR’s disintegration.

I agree that some Congress leaders are more interested in completing their tenure than the future of the nation that needs the earliest operationalisation of the nuclear deal. Perhaps it is for the first time that US is keenly interested to see the deal get through. The UPA government and the Prime Minister will render a yeoman’s service if they don’t allow the Left and other skeptics in the Congress to have their way.

LAJ PAT RAI GARG, Chandigarh

V

The writer has rightly reminded the Prime Minister to be bold enough to bite the bullet fired by the Left and to get the deal operationalised during the tenure of President Bush.

The Left has left no stone unturned to stall the nuclear deal all along. It is a must for us to meet our energy needs. It will give us access to enriched uranium critically required to run the atomic reactors producing power, which are on the verge of frequent shutdowns and closures. The deal will give us access to the latest technology for developing space and defence establishments and for industrial  growth. Moreover, the deal can transform India’s future and end the nuclear apartheid, thus redefining our country.

Operationalisation of the nuclear deal now or never should be in the Prime Minister’s mind. Rising to the occasion, he should listen to his inner voice to go ahead with the deal which had been a major part of his agenda and legacy. He should change the course of history without succumbing to competing political pressure tactics of the Left and the BJP even if his government is sacrificed.

DILBAG RAI, Chandigarh

Threat to state economy The article “Anaemic economy” by Dr S. S. Johl (June 5) makes sad reading. That the governing system should appear indifferent to the deteriorating economic health of the state shows how callously unconcerned it is about the welfare of the people. Corruption and inefficiency in varied forms are thriving because of the lack of accountability on the part of the state functionaries and the absence of public awareness and vigilance may eventually ruin the state economy and demoralise governance. It is a pity that suggestions and advice from patriotic, selfless and reputed economists and social scientists are going unheeded. Dr P. S. CHANANA, Chandigarh