March 26, 2008 Opposition to N-deal
Unfortunate: Narayanan
New Delhi
The Indian government Wednesday termed as "unfortunate" the
opposition of the Left parties to the civilian nuclear deal with the
US, saying it was driven by "other considerations" than those
relating to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
"The opposition within the country is unfortunately driven by other
considerations," National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan said.
"The absence of a consensus is a major handicap. We need a
resolution to this earlier rather than later," he added.
Narayanan was delivering the 25th Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal
memorial lecture on "Managing India's National Security & Building a
Consensus for the 21st Century" at the Air Force Auditorium here.
He prefaced his remarks by pointing out that the opposition to the
deal outside India "stems from the non-proliferation lobby", adding
that the pact "has nothing to do with India's military programme".
"India seeks to enlarge its energy mix by stepping up nuclear power
generation. For India, energy security is a major concern on the
road of economic growth," he added.
The Left parties that support Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
government from the outside are bitterly opposed to the nuclear deal
and have threatened to pull the plug if it is operationalised.
Despite this, India has held talks with the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) on a country-specific safeguards agreement
after which it intends to seek a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers
Group (NSG).
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who has just concluded a
two-day visit to the US, has reiterated India's desire to implement
the nuclear deal, but made it clear that the ruling coalition was
not prepared to sacrifice the government for it.
"At this juncture I cannot indicate any time frame by which we can
complete the process" of resolving problems with the government's
Left supporters who are opposed to the deal, he said in Washington
while addressing a press conference at the end of the visit Tuesday,
during which he met President George W. Bush.
The White House responded with a reassurance that there was still
some time before one could say "now or never" on the deal.
"Well, we have a little bit of time before we have to say 'now or
never'", press secretary Dana Perino declared Tuesday.
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