My Scribles

The UPA Government has refused to submit the draft text of the IAEA Safeguards Agreement to the UPA-Left committee. As the experience of the 123 agreement has shown, the claims of the Government made prior to the negotiations are not borne out by the actual text. Thus the full text of the agreement is necessary to clarify the major issues involved.The first major issue relates to the possibility of the US terminating civilian nuclear cooperation with India for any reason in the future. India already had such an experience, when the US suspended nuclear fuel supplies to the Tarapur Atomic Power Station in 1983, reneging upon a thirty year contract signed in 1963. In the present case, the IAEA safeguards would continue even in such a scenario, since they are applicable in perpetuity to the entire civilian nuclear energy sector. The text of the 123 agreement has very ambiguous references to India taking "corrective measures" if nuclear fuel supplies from abroad are discontinued.

The Left parties have issued the following statement: On Withdrawal of Support to the UPA GovernmentThe Left Parties have withdrawn support to the UPA Government. The UPA Government came into existence in 2004 with the support of the Left parties on the basis of its Common Minimum Programme. The aim was to fight the communal forces and undo the damage they had done to the secular polity of India in their years in office. This required a set of interlinked policies to bring relief to the people, to protect India's integrity and to pursue an independent foreign policy. By going ahead with the deal at a time when there is the crushing burden of price-rise and galloping inflation, the Manmohan Singh Government has clearly shown that it is more concerned about fulfilling its commitment to the Bush administration rather than meeting its commitment to the people of India.The Indo-US Nuclear Deal is against India's vital interests. The Congress-led government has embraced a strategic

The Left parties have decided to launch an all India campaign from the 14th of July to go to the people to explain their opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal, against the government's refusal to take appropriate measures to tackle the runaway inflation, backbreaking price rise and against all anti-people policies.The Left parties will staunchly expose and oppose the efforts of the BJP and its allies to whip up communal polarization with a view to gain political and electoral support. The Left parties appeal to all other secular forces to join us in this endeavour.