2008-07-13 08:47:50 - National Security Advisor during the NDA regime, congratulated the Government on safeguards agreement with IAEA and cautioned against re-negotiating the deal.

Rajiv Partap Rudy spokesperson of BJP castigated remarks of Brijesh Misra on NDTV channel live programme on atomic deal debate,"The Big Fight" with left,Congress and SP representatives.His attidtude towards the Left was too courteous and the entire audience enjoyed hilarious gesture.Right with left and left with right both hovering through the fog and filthy air of nuke fission and fussion

in Indian political scenarios on draft of IAEA safguard agreement,123 agreement still to be unvield may carry a bigger storm in coming months.

Right wing BJP with left and Left to vote with Right to vote against trust vote for UPA government makes the civil nuclear pact with US, keep Indian people guessing which way the politiicians vote and stand in this contentious but important subject.Nuke issue to be the chief plank in coming general election for which the chief of congress party Mrs Sonia Gandhi has appointed elevn spokesperson to explain the deal.

Right wings supports centre Congress along with its allies Shi sena,NCP chief Omar Abdulla in favour of the deal.Misra who had dual positions of NSA and Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said the draft safeguards agreement is "very satisfactory" and discounted the concerns raised by some quarters over India's military nuclear programme. He further adds that "If you are satisfied with it (123 agreement), then this is also good".The government had done a good job on the agreement and "they have my congratulations", he said.

Government expressed in its media that Country's "sovereign" interests, including in strategic nuclear field, were protected in the IAEA safeguards agreement and expressed confidence about getting an exemption from the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

The government also ruled out putting Fast Breeder Test Reactors under the IAEA safeguards and asserted that the country's Intellectual Property Rights are firmly protected.

With questions being raised over the agreement, the government fielded its top officials National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, Atomic Energy Commission chief Anil Kakodkar and chief negotiator R B Grover to "explain" that the pact is in India's interest.

Jaya,the chief of AIADMK Chief Jayalalitha calls for total debate and wants to dump the deal for six motnhs till elections in India and US take place."Whether the nuclear deal with the US is necessary for our country or not can be decided only after all the tenets of the agreement including the fine print were known," she said in a statement.

The CPI(M) has dared the Congress to face elections on the nuclear deal plank, saying they were confident that people would reject the latter's stand as the Government was "isolated" on the issue.

The party said the Left parties would work to ensure that the deal does not get operationalised during the "life of Manmohan Singh government".
Left parties withdrawn support to the government allege the pact will 'risk the permanent shutdown of imported reactors in case it failed to toe the US line on foreign policy issues'.

'It is clear that the IAEA safeguards agreement does not address the fundamental problems in the Hyde Act and the 123 Agreement,' the Left parties said in a statement.

'As a result of operationalising the Indo-US nuclear deal, India will place its costly imported reactors under perpetual IAEA safeguards and risk their permanent shutdown in case it fails to toe the US line on foreign policy issues,' the Left parties said.'Thus, going ahead with the safeguards agreement will be harmful to India's interests,' they said.

Further they add that the text of the safeguards pact was hidden from them and the country because in text India's entire civilian nuclear energy programme into IAEA safeguards in perpetuity.

Without getting concrete assurances for uninterrupted fuel supply, right to build strategic reserves and right to take corrective steps in case fuel supplies are stopped', they said, questioning the government's claim about the pact addressing three of India's key concerns.
Noted agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan has backed the Indo-US nuclear deal and IAEA Safeguards pact asserting that they were "unique" and would help India to end its nuclear isolation.
However, he asked the government to resolve the deadlock by addressing Opposition parties' concerns relating to the Hyde Act with a counter legislation.

Swaminathan (83) who fondly recalls his close association with Homi Babha, the father of Indian nuclear programme, when he worked with him on radiation genetics in the 50s, said the IAEA-India Safeguards Agreement text made clear that India has the option to designate its nuclear plants for inspections.

"The text ensures that the designated plants are devoted to produce nuclear power and importantly they (IAEA) said that you can designate your own plants for use of other purposes.

"This is a real concession because after 1974 and 1998 nuclear tests, a host of countries have imposed sanctions against India," he told PTI in an interview here today.

"Therefore this agreement is quite unique in that respect. There is no precedent. I would like our nuclear isolation to be ended and see old Nehruvian commitment of nuclear weapons free world. I would like to see the peaceful use of atomic energy. End our nuclear isolation as it is not good for a country with 1.13 billion people to remain out of the nuclear mainstream," he said. PTI