Monday 21 March 2011

BJP leaders assured US of not harming nuke deal: WikiLeaks

NEW DELHI: Barely 24 hours after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement in Parliament, the WikiLeaks spotlight is on the BJP. The latest installment of US confidential cables claims that BJP leaders had assured US officials that its opposition to the nuclear deal was tactical and that they would not harm the deal.

The BJP has denied any doublespeak on the Indo-US nuclear deal. After being cornered by the BJP, the Congress was not prepared to buy the BJP's argument.

Not willing to let the opportunity go by, the Congress, which described the revelations as "chickens having come home to roost", said that the BJP should apply to itself the same standards it adopted for the government.

One of the cables in question was sent by Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Blake, dates to December 28, 2005. The conversation with BJP national executive member Seshadri Chari referred to in the cable took place immidiately after the party's national executive in Mumbai.

The US diplomat wrote that Chari had urged the US "not to read too much into the foreign policy resolution, especially the parts relating to the US." The BJP leader and RSS pointsman dismissed the statement as "standard practice" aimed at scoring political points against the UPA. BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar echoed the sentiment saying that the BJP was "not really upset about the US-India relationship, but merely wanted the Government of India and US government to be more forthcoming about any deal on nuclear policy," the cable said.

Chari declined to comment on the WikiLeaks report. He said that he did not remember if he had talked to Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Blake in December 2005.

"I don't remember the name. I don't remember the names. I don't remember whom I met in 2005," Chari said. He said that the party will officially comment if required.

Javadekar said there are "no contradictions" in the party's stand. "We have made our position clear both in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and through press statements that we value strategic relations with the US and that all sources of energy should be tapped," the party spokesperson said.

Javadekar substantiated this by referring to the Nuclear Liability Bill. He said that the party had objections to the bill introduced by the government, and its sustained opposition to it ensured that the government made 16 amendments to the Bill. "We keep national interest foremost, there is no double speak," Javadekar said.

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