11-03-2006, 01:20 AM
Pioneer.com
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Problem with N-deal is in details, says Jaswant in US </b>
S Rajagopalan | Washington
<b>It's the details rather than the direction of the Indo-US nuclear deal that worries the BJP,</b> former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh informed an American audience here on Wednesday.
Setting forth his party's objections during an interactive session at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, Singh spoke of "<b>real difficulties" arising from the restraint that the deal places on further testing and fissile materials.</b>
"Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the tallest political leader in the country and architect of Indo-US relations, has pointed out the pitfalls," <b>he said adding the Indian Government should pay special attention to those aspects</b>. It was a joint appearance by Singh and former Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, the two men who laid the foundations on behalf of their respective governments for the turnaround in Indo-US strategic ties after the 1998 tests.
Their elaborate groundwork was accomplished through a series of 14 meetings at 10 locations in seven countries, but on Wednesday both men voiced their opposition to the deal for altogether different reasons.
If Singh voiced his unease over restraints on testing and fissile materials, Talbott criticised the Bush administration's logic of granting India an exception under the NPT and termed it a move away from the rule-based system of controlling proliferation of dangerous technology.
Talbott, however, had no doubt about Congressional nod to the deal. "I still remain very confident that this deal is going to be the law of the land, very likely at some point during the lame duck session of the Congress. But that's not going to end the debate," he said.
Currently the president of Brookings Institution, Talbott, also hinted at the possibility of Chinese opposition in the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group on the question of making a country-specific exception for India.
Singh, during a subsequent impromptu chat with reporters, said New Delhi must pay attention to "what was hinted here" (about the possible Chinese move within NSG). As for fissile material restraint, he said this had to be global and verifiable.
<b>"I have no difficulty as long as the direction is correct. But because we did the hard work, I also know the pitfalls in the path," he said. For India, the nuclear deal is all about energy, but for the US, it's all about non-proliferation, Singh said</b>.
When asked why it can't be both, he commented: "Then the Prime Minister must say so in Parliament."
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Problem with N-deal is in details, says Jaswant in US </b>
S Rajagopalan | Washington
<b>It's the details rather than the direction of the Indo-US nuclear deal that worries the BJP,</b> former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh informed an American audience here on Wednesday.
Setting forth his party's objections during an interactive session at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, Singh spoke of "<b>real difficulties" arising from the restraint that the deal places on further testing and fissile materials.</b>
"Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the tallest political leader in the country and architect of Indo-US relations, has pointed out the pitfalls," <b>he said adding the Indian Government should pay special attention to those aspects</b>. It was a joint appearance by Singh and former Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, the two men who laid the foundations on behalf of their respective governments for the turnaround in Indo-US strategic ties after the 1998 tests.
Their elaborate groundwork was accomplished through a series of 14 meetings at 10 locations in seven countries, but on Wednesday both men voiced their opposition to the deal for altogether different reasons.
If Singh voiced his unease over restraints on testing and fissile materials, Talbott criticised the Bush administration's logic of granting India an exception under the NPT and termed it a move away from the rule-based system of controlling proliferation of dangerous technology.
Talbott, however, had no doubt about Congressional nod to the deal. "I still remain very confident that this deal is going to be the law of the land, very likely at some point during the lame duck session of the Congress. But that's not going to end the debate," he said.
Currently the president of Brookings Institution, Talbott, also hinted at the possibility of Chinese opposition in the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group on the question of making a country-specific exception for India.
Singh, during a subsequent impromptu chat with reporters, said New Delhi must pay attention to "what was hinted here" (about the possible Chinese move within NSG). As for fissile material restraint, he said this had to be global and verifiable.
<b>"I have no difficulty as long as the direction is correct. But because we did the hard work, I also know the pitfalls in the path," he said. For India, the nuclear deal is all about energy, but for the US, it's all about non-proliferation, Singh said</b>.
When asked why it can't be both, he commented: "Then the Prime Minister must say so in Parliament."
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