BJP rejects Pranab's statement, moves breach of privilege against PM- Hindustan Times

BJP rejects Pranab's statement, moves breach of privilege against PM- Hindustan Times

Lack of maturity and diplomatic incompetence on the part of the government of Dr. Manmohan Singh will be a reason for an opporunity missed for advancing Indo-US relations. The Prime Minister should have known better. It is expected from a democratic leader to engage in serious deliberations with the other political parties before finalizing strategic treaties with other countries. Dr. Manmohan Singh never took advice from prominent leaders like Atalji. The Prime Minister should have invited the former Prime Minister for lunch and discuss the pact before giving India’s approval. He could call Shri Prakash Karat and go over the details before giving the green signal.

I am irked by the Prime Minister's insistence that the 123 Nuclear Pact is non-negotiable. What is this big fuss all about? It appears that both Manmohan Govt and the Bush Administration were in a rush to finalize the agreement before US Presidential elections in 2008 and India's General elections in 2009. So here we are - we have an agreement which is not acceptable to the majority in the Indian Parliament.

If this Pact fails (either in India or in the US Congress) a lot of blame should go to the Prime Minister. On the matters of serious national significance who gives a care if the government falls? The government of today can only use the mandate it has and not pretend that it can do whatever it likes. Instead of threatening the Left Front, the Prime Minister needs to look at his own actions. A treaty can't be legitimate and credible unless the Parliament debates and approves it.

On the matters of national significance and pivotal importance for Indo-US relations, the Prime Minister did not pull up his sleeves to do the fine tuning of the terms of the agreement. What made it worse is that the Prime Minister's advisers dropped the ball too.

To say that the 123 Agreement does not originate from the Hyde Act is like saying that we are Indians but have no relation to Bharat. 123 Agreement cannot be separated from the Hyde Act just like a child's DNA cannot be different from that of his/her father's.

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