[Bahujan-forum] Indo-US Nuclear Deal: Manmohan Singh Plays Narasimha Rao

It is rather significant that Manmohan Singh's proud announcement that the government of India would soon approach the IAEA Board of Governors to clinch the India-specific agreement negotiated with that UN body on board the air plane to Japan has not only made a mockery of the letter written by his seniormost colleague in the cabinet, the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, to the Left parties proposing July 10 as the next meeting date for the UPA-Left committee to further discuss the deal, it also is a study in contrast with his own pre-departure statement issued just a day back on Sunday making no mention of the deal as a part of the agenda to be discussed with the world leaders in Japan.

Apparently, just out of direct reach of the Congress leadership, read Sonia Gandhi, he has decided to play nasty. Quite significantly, when asked whether there is enough time for the deal to be opearionalised, he simply answered that he cannot guarantee but the US has assured that they'd see to it.

The impression that gains ground is that it is not the nuclear deal itself but forcing a break with the Left using his privileged position as the Prime Minister is his prime concern, regardless of other consequences.

No matter if in the process the Hindu Nationalist BJP is offerred the next government on a platter. He could not perhaps care less.



Under the circumstances, the only sensible and honourable option left to the Left is to withdraw support for the UPA government forthwith after their scheduled meet on Tuesday morning with the proviso they may again back a Congress-led government provided Mnamohan Singh is sacked and the deal is not pursued any further.

Reportedly, the three junior partners of the LF are keen to withdraw support. But it is the CPIM which will decide.]



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http://www.national post.com/ news/world/ story.html? id=9687586c- ba79-449d- a215-bc878dd4f20 8



Indian PM heads to G8, set to push U.S. nuclear deal
Bappa Majumdar, Reuters Published: Monday, July 07, 2008

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Having clinched crucial political support, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh headed for Japan on Monday for a G8 summit where he may formally press ahead with a civilian nuclear deal with the United States.

Singh appears to have secured a parliamentary majority for his government to replace his communist allies, who say they will withdraw their support if the deal goes ahead. The left criticizes the deal as making India subservient to Washington.

The deal would be one of Singh's most important achievements in four years of office, giving India access to U.S. nuclear fuel and technology and moving the Asian giant's trade and diplomatic relations closer to the West.

If Singh gives the green light, an International Atomic Energy Agency governing board meeting, expected to take place in the coming weeks to deal with the agency's overdue budget issues, could also ratify a recent safeguards accord between India and IAEA inspectors, a step required for the U.S.-India deal to take effect, diplomats said.

Singh told reporters on the plane to Japan that India would approach the IAEA for a safeguards agreement "very soon," the Press Trust of India reported.

The diplomats said there was talk of a July 28 board session but any timetable for advancing the deal remained unclear until Singh approached the IAEA.

"No date for the meeting has been set yet. It would be premature at this point," said an IAEA official who, like the diplomats, asked for anonymity due to political sensitivities.

Singh was due to hold on Wednesday a bilateral meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush -- the man who shook hands with Singh on the accord at the White House in 2005 -- where he is expected to say the deal goes ahead.

But some say it could already be too late for the deal to be passed before the end of Bush's term.

With time fast running out before the U.S. election in November, India needs to seek approval for the deal from the IAEA, then the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group where there is doubt about the deal since India is outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and finally ratification by the U.S. Congress.

DEAL POTENTIALLY WORTH BILLIONS

The nuclear deal is potentially worth billions of dollars to U.S. and European nuclear supply companies and would give India more energy alternatives to drive its booming economy.

To secure both the deal and his government's survival, Singh has realigned his four-year-old coalition by securing the support of the Samajwadi Party, a regional party from northern India with a history of pragmatic alliances with governments.

Their support should ensure that Singh avoids having to hold an early election this year just as the government grapples with 13-year-high inflation and signs of economic slowdown.

"The nuclear deal is safe and so is the central government, thanks to the Samajwadi Party," the Economic Times said in an editorial on Monday.

The four communist parties that give the ruling coalition a majority in parliament had set a Monday deadline for the government to tell say if it was going ahead with the deal.

The Forward Bloc, one of the smaller leftist party said late on Monday that the left would withdraw its support on July 10.

"We have no choice but to withdraw support and we will do it on July 10," Debabrata Biswas, a Forward Bloc leader told reporters. "This is a unanimous decision."

In its reply to its communist allies on Monday, the government did not say if it was proceeding with the nuclear accord, but requested a meeting with the left on Thursday -- an encounter that could see a formal split between the two sides.

"The ball is in the court of the left parties, not the Congress," senior ruling Congress party leader Veerappa Moily told reporters. "If they have any grievances they can express them at the next meeting.

The main Hindu nationalist opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has called for a vote of confidence in the government. It is almost certain that the vote will be called if the left withdraw their support.

The Samajwadi Party has 39 seats in parliament, compared with 59 for the communist parties. The Congress-led ruling coalition needs the support of 44 lawmakers to reach a majority. It would try to win the other five seats from smaller parties.

India's political uncertainty has hit markets. Stocks fell 2.5 percent last week, pushed down not only by worries over the government's future but also by record oil prices and inflation.

On Monday, stocks rose 0.5 percent, partly on news that the government has secured the support of the Samajwadi Party.

(Additional reporting by Nigam Prusty in New Delhi and Mark Heinrich in Vienna; Editing by Alex Richardson and Valerie Lee) (For related factboxes see: and (For the latest Reuters news on India see: http://in.reuters. com, for blogs see http://blogs. reuters.com/ in)


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http://www.ndtv. com/convergence/ ndtv/story. aspx?id=NEWEN200 80056073&ch=7/7/2008% 208:33:00% 20PM



India to approach IAEA very soon: PM NDTV CorrespondentMonday, July 7, 2008 (On Board Air India One)Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has said that India will soon approach the IAEA, which is the UN's nuclear agency. This is the next step in the Indo-US nuclear deal over which his key allies, the Left parties, have threatened to withdraw support.

The prime minister was speaking to the media persons on board the special aircraft flying him Japan to attend the G8 summit in Hokkaido island.

The Prime Minister said that he was ready to go ahead with the India-US nuclear deal and was not afraid of facing Parliament and snubbed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani for giving unsolicited advice on when to hold elections.

However, Dr Manmohan Singh did not specify a date and said, ''I would not like to make any announcement when I am here but we will go soon.''

Interestingly, he said: ''Left are our valued colleagues. They are patriots. I hope even now that they will see reason and support us on nuclear deal.''

PM also said that India had been assured that once it decided to go ahead with the nuclear deal, things would move swiftly. But he also hoped that the IAEA board of governors would not take too long to approve nuclear safe guards for India.

''Indo-US nuclear deal will figure in all the discussions with world leaders'', the prime minister said.

Asserting that he was ''not worried'' by the political crisis that has threatened the survival of his government, Manmohan Singh said his government was ''equipped'' to deal with any contingency. But he did not ''foresee election before its time''.

PM said he is confident of getting China's support for the nuke deal and said that it will not be a problem. India already had the support of Russia, France and the UK.

PM also said that India has been assured that once it took the decision to go to IAEA the process to go ahead with the deal will move pretty fast.

There are reports that the IAEA board will hold a meeting on the July 28 to approve the India-specific nuclear rules.

(With PTI inputs)
III.http://www.ndtv. com/convergence/ ndtv/story. aspx?id=NEWEN200 80056009 Manmohan Singh leaves for Japan Indo-Asian News ServiceMonday, July 7, 2008 (New Delhi)Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday left for Japan's northern town of Toyako in Hokkaido island to attend the annual conclave of leaders of the world's most powerful, industrialized and emerging economies as well as for a crucial meeting with US President George W Bush.

There was a question mark on the trip till a few days ago as the government's Left allies had put their veto on the visit since they felt that going there to meet Bush would be tantamount to the government going ahead with the nuclear deal with the US that they oppose.

The Manmohan-Bush meeting will be the focus of eager attention back home as the two leaders are likely to discuss the timetable of the India-US nuclear deal that has led to a near break-up of the ruling coalition with the Communists threatening to withdraw support over it. That has led the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to seek support from their erstwhile foe, the Samajwadi Party, to ensure the government's parliamentary survival.

Ahead of the Manmohan-Bush meeting on July 9, the prime minister is also likely to meet leaders of the other G8 countries, including Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, Chinese President Hu Jintao and other important leaders who are also leading lights of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG), the atomic cartel that regulates nuclear trade between nations.

With time running out for the nuclear deal, the government is planning to conclude safeguards with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) soon - a step that is likely to lead to a break with its Communist allies who prop up the ruling coalition.

The IAEA pact has to be followed by a waiver from the NSG so that the deal can be endorsed by the US Congress before India and the US sign the bilateral 123 enabling agreement that will consummate the nuclear deal, leading to the resumption of global civil nuclear trade with India after a gap of three decades.

In a departure statement released Sunday evening, Manmohan Singh said he will press for ''joint action'' to tackle the problem of rising global oil prices at the G8 annual conclave. There was, however, no mention of the India-US civil nuclear deal in the prime minister's departure statement.