India has fallen into the NPT trap: BJP
Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, September 06, 2008
First Published: 21:45 IST(6/9/2008)
Last Updated: 21:47 IST(6/9/2008)
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Reacting to the NSG waiver, BJP on Saturday alleged that the country has fallen into the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) "trap" and there were many hidden deals behind the move.
"BJP believes that India has fallen into the NPT trap. India has forever lost the right to conduct nuclear tests," BJP vice-president Yashwant Sinha told reporters.
Sinha accused the government of compromising on India's interests to get the deal through. "The NSG waiver has come after so many deliberations... Obviously there have been give aways by India," he said, adding NSG had laid down guidelines which were as stiff as the Hyde Act of the US.
Taking a dig at the Congress' stand that this was a historic day, Sinha said, "far from being a historic day, it is a historic shame for India."
"Congress says apartheid in the nuclear field has come to an end. But this apartheid came after the 1974 nuclear test. So is the Congress now discarding the legacy of Indira Gandhi?" he asked.
Sinha, who along with BJP MP Arun Shourie, spearheaded the BJP campaign against the government on the nuclear deal, said the US wanted this deal as it saw India as a lucrative market for nuclear fuel supply.
He said the electricity to be provided by this nuclear power will be very expensive and be available only after decades.
Sinha alleged that there were "many, many hidden deals" behind the NSG waiver.
Sinha, who was foreign minister during the NDA regime, said India could not discount the need for further nuclear tests.
"There is a very strong scientific opinion that you need to upgrade technology. Else we will be frozen in that stage of technology," he said.
The Indo-US nuclear deal also does not specify whether there would be uninterrupted nuclear fuel supply to Indian reactors. "Will the US ensure lifetime fuel supply to a reactor as was being discussed. Each reactor has a lifetime of 40 years," Sinha said.
The saffron party leader said considering the number of compromises made by India to get this deal, it would have been better had India signed the NPT directly.
"The deal leaves a whole lot of undecided issues. We are not getting dual use technology or enrichment and reprocessing technology. But still we are giving up our right to test. Had we signed NPT and CTBT it would have been less onerous," he said.
He said the government had promised in Parliament that India will get "clean and unconditional" waiver but later "unconditional was dropped unconditionally".
Since India had gone for this deal, it had frittered away any chance of a legislation here to counter the Hyde Act. "Doing so now would not be acting in good faith as India has already agreed to the deal," he said.
"India has deliberately raised the stakes against testing. It is like inviting the death sentence on India," he said.
India has fallen into the NPT trap: BJP- Hindustan Times