‘Don’t take the next step in the nuclear deal’:

Communists warn Indian Govt

INDIA: The Indian government’s communist allies warned of “serious consequences” if New Delhi went ahead with a landmark nuclear deal with the United States.

The thinly veiled threat alarmed the ruling Congress party, prompting it to call an emergency meeting of its leaders later on Saturday.

“Don’t take the next step in the deal,” Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) General Secretary Prakash Karat said after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Indian capital.

“The government should not proceed further till all doubts and apprehensions (about the agreement) are evaluated,” he told reporters.

The face-off widens the chasm between the ruling Congress coalition and the four leftist groups which prop it up in parliament.

However, the communists stopped short of specifically threatening to withdraw support from the Congress-led coalition government, which would reduce it to a minority administration.

The controversial agreement promises to offer long-denied Western nuclear technology to energy-starved India, where existing atomic facilities account for just three percent of its total power output.

Karat said Singh’s Congress party-led government must not “operationalise” the deal, which now needs approval from the 45-nation Nuclear Supply Group and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) global watchdog.

“The government should not take the next step with regards to negotiating on the safeguards agreement with the IAEA and it is for the Congress leadership to decide on the matter which will have serious consequences for the government and the country,” he warned.

Karat said the CPM’s policy-making politburo would seek to rally national opinion against the deal, struck when US President George W. Bush visited India in March 2005.

“The politburo has decided to take the issue of the nuclear agreement and the dangers of the strategic alliance with the US to the people through a nationwide mass campaign,” he said.

The Communist Party of India, another partner of Congress, warned it would lower the “level of cooperation” with the now-shaky government.

“The level of cooperation will now go down and our support to it will be merit-based from now on,” party national secretary Doraiswamy Raja told AFP.

The communists oppose closer ties with the United States and say that the deal threatens India’s sovereignty.

The main opposition Hindu nationalist BJP party, sensing a chance to hammer the government, dared the Communists to oppose the deal in a parliamentary vote.

“The Communists should stand up and be counted when that happens in parliament,” BJP spokesman V.K. Malhotra told reporters.

Meanwhile India will seek Japan’s approval for a civilian nuclear pact with the United States and greater investment during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit this week, officials say.

The second high-level contact in less than a year between the Asian countries will also see Abe press India for its support for a partnership between Australia, India, Japan and the United States, analysts said.

Indian officials were upbeat about Abe’s three-day visit beginning Tuesday with a senior government official describing him as one of the “most India-friendly” Japanese prime ministers in recent memory.

Key among the issues for New Delhi during talks with Abe will be support for the India-US nuclear deal which seeks to bring India into the loop of global nuclear commerce after a gap of 30 years.

Backing from Japan is significant as it is the only nation to have been attacked with nuclear weapons and is also a major civilian atomic power.

Japan’s approval is also necessary because it is a member of the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) of nations that controls the sale of nuclear fuel, technology and reactors.

New Delhi, Sunday, AFP