06-22-2006, 09:55 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>National Democratic Alliance</b>
New Delhi
20th June, 2006
Mahamahim Rashtrapatiji,
We write to express our serious concern at the manner and the contents of the nuclear deal being finalized by the Government of India.
<b>The separation of our nuclear plants and facilities, as between civilian and military is difficult, expensive and has implications for our strategic programme, and is unwarranted. To then conclude a safeguards agreement with the IAEA, and the subsequent additional protocol is fraught with complex dangers since inspections by the IAEA will be intrusive and will rob our scientists of the freedom they have enjoyed all along. The Waiver Authority Bill introduced in the US Congress and under discussion there now will impose obligations even more onerous than the CTBT</b>.
On an issue of such deep import the Prime Minister has repeatedly misled the Parliament and the people of India. It is now clear from the statements made by the US officials before the US Congress that neither parity nor reciprocity will be made available to India under this deal. India will continue to be treated in a discriminatory manner, something we have been opposed to all along. Thus, even the limited comfort that there was in the agreement of July 2005 will now be denied to India.
We believe that the text of the bilateral <b>"123 agreement"</b> with the US, and the safeguards agreement with the IAEA is already under negotiation. Whereas we are in the dark about these negotiations, the US Congress is not. The paradox is that while detailed discussions are taking place on the future of the Indian nuclear programme in the US Congress, Parliament of India is deliberately kept in the dark.
You are well aware that India's nuclear programme, including the strategic programme has always been fully backed by, national consensus and a strong national will. It has never been a single party's or only one government's programme. Today, there is no consensus regarding the nuclear deal, nor is there any effort on the part of the government to build such a consensus. We believe that an overwhelming majority of the Members of Parliament are against this deal.
The present government cannot be allowed to undo the work of the last sixty years, to cap our strategic nuclear programme and to also expose our nuclear scientists to undue interference in their work, from sources outside of India. We would like to state that such a deal cannot bind India in the future.
With kind regards,
Yours sincerely,
(A.B. Vajpayee)
Former Prime Minister
and Chairman NDA
(L.K. Advani)
Leader of
Opposition (Lok Sabha)
(George Fernandes)
Convener, NDA
(Jaswant Singh)
Leader of Opposition (RS)
(Rajnath Singh)
President, BJP
(Sharad Yadav)
President, JD(U)
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
New Delhi
20th June, 2006
Mahamahim Rashtrapatiji,
We write to express our serious concern at the manner and the contents of the nuclear deal being finalized by the Government of India.
<b>The separation of our nuclear plants and facilities, as between civilian and military is difficult, expensive and has implications for our strategic programme, and is unwarranted. To then conclude a safeguards agreement with the IAEA, and the subsequent additional protocol is fraught with complex dangers since inspections by the IAEA will be intrusive and will rob our scientists of the freedom they have enjoyed all along. The Waiver Authority Bill introduced in the US Congress and under discussion there now will impose obligations even more onerous than the CTBT</b>.
On an issue of such deep import the Prime Minister has repeatedly misled the Parliament and the people of India. It is now clear from the statements made by the US officials before the US Congress that neither parity nor reciprocity will be made available to India under this deal. India will continue to be treated in a discriminatory manner, something we have been opposed to all along. Thus, even the limited comfort that there was in the agreement of July 2005 will now be denied to India.
We believe that the text of the bilateral <b>"123 agreement"</b> with the US, and the safeguards agreement with the IAEA is already under negotiation. Whereas we are in the dark about these negotiations, the US Congress is not. The paradox is that while detailed discussions are taking place on the future of the Indian nuclear programme in the US Congress, Parliament of India is deliberately kept in the dark.
You are well aware that India's nuclear programme, including the strategic programme has always been fully backed by, national consensus and a strong national will. It has never been a single party's or only one government's programme. Today, there is no consensus regarding the nuclear deal, nor is there any effort on the part of the government to build such a consensus. We believe that an overwhelming majority of the Members of Parliament are against this deal.
The present government cannot be allowed to undo the work of the last sixty years, to cap our strategic nuclear programme and to also expose our nuclear scientists to undue interference in their work, from sources outside of India. We would like to state that such a deal cannot bind India in the future.
With kind regards,
Yours sincerely,
(A.B. Vajpayee)
Former Prime Minister
and Chairman NDA
(L.K. Advani)
Leader of
Opposition (Lok Sabha)
(George Fernandes)
Convener, NDA
(Jaswant Singh)
Leader of Opposition (RS)
(Rajnath Singh)
President, BJP
(Sharad Yadav)
President, JD(U)
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->