Karat blames PM for political crisis

CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat today squarely blamed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the prevailing political crisis saying his "renewed bid" to go to the IAEA to seek its approval for the safeguards agreement to operationalise the Indo-US nuclear deal was the main reason for it.

In an article in the latest issue of the CPI(M) party organ "People's Democracy" Karat said that there was actually no time table set for the deal, except that of President Bush ending tenure at the White House. "It is this schedule set out by the United States which is impelling the Prime Minister to go ahead regardless of the consequences," the CPI(M) leader said.



Karat said the reason for such urgency was "the insistence of the Bush Administration that India complete the procedures for the safeguards agreement with the IAEA so that the Americans can take the step of formally initiating the process in the Nuclear Suppliers Group to get the waiver for nuclear trade with India."

"President Bush wants to ensure in the last few discredited months of his presidency that at least the Indo-US nuclear deal will remain as a legacy to be taken up by the next President. This will have some certainty if the NSG clearance is got before his term expires," he said.

Karat, who has been holding parleys with Left, UNPA, Congress and UPA leaders on the issue, said: "the tactics adopted (by the government) has been to try and get the Left to agree piecemeal to a step by step operationalisation of the 123 agreement."

He said it was "a fact that consultation process in the NSG has already been initiated by the US. In September 2007, the Bush Administration presented a pre-decisional draft titled 'Submission of Civilian Nuclear Cooperation with India' to an informal meeting of the NSG."

"It is learnt that a revised note has been submitted subsequently," Karat said, adding that the NSG was awaiting the IAEA clearance to start the procedure. "The way it will go will be that the US would make a request formally for an exemption," he quoted former NSG Chairman Abdul S Minty as saying.


Maintaining that the UPA side was trying to convince the Left that IAEA approval would pave the way for nuclear cooperation with Russia and France, Karat said "nothing can be further from truth."

"In February, Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns had categorically stated that the US would not get the NSG waiver for India in a "worst case scenario of the 123 agreement being bypassed and India trying to engage in nuclear commerce with other countries," said Karat.

"So that 'passport' which is being sought can be nothing but an American passport," Karat said. Observing that the government and the Congress were fully aware that Left would not be party to them trying to push the deal "through a strategic alliance with the US," he reiterated that there could be "no compromise" on the issue.