Pause on Indo-US Deal

We, the undersigned call upon the UPA government not to be in a hurry to implement the Indo-US Bilateral Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. A majority in the Indian Parliament is opposed to this “deal”. Meanwhile, the US Congress itself has passed extensive legislation, the Hyde Act, which specifically circumvents the assurances prime minister Manmohan Singh gave our Parliament before that Act came into force in the US. Supreme legislatures of the two countries evidently hold positions that are irreconcilable.

Considering that a majority in Parliament is opposed to the “deal” as it currently stands, it is outrageous and despicable to suggest that a section of this opposition is taking its cue from China or Iran or elsewhere, or that foreign policy is being “communalised”. No one needs a certificate of patriotism from the communal forces and their friends in the media. As always, and especially in matters of foreign policy, we want the nation to speak in one voice. Foreign forces can wait while we build such a consensus within our own democracy.