New govt should cancel nuclear deal: Karat

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New Delhi: CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday said any new government taking office after the coming Lok Sabha elections should cancel the India-US nuclear deal.

The deal, which awaits the US Congress' approval, would be axed if a Left Front-backed government comes to power in New Delhi, Karat indicated after the party's two-day politburo meeting here.

A new government can cancel the deal by giving six months' notice, a provision in the 123 agreement, Karat said.

He said the waiver by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for India represented another surrender by the Manmohan Singh government in its journey to operationalising the agreement.

"The NSG waiver is neither clean nor unconditional. As in the case of the 123 agreement and the IAEA safeguard agreements, the waiver by NSG organised by the US will bind India to all the conditions set down by the Hyde Act," the CPI-M leader said in a statement.

All these steps had gone against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assurance to parliament made in August 2006, Karat said.

"We will fight against the deal in the country, not in Vienna or the US," he added.

Asked what would happen if a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance formed a new government, Karat said they had already stated that they are not against the deal but would re-negotiate it.

The CPI-M would rally "all the democratic and patriotic forces" to fight the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's strategic alliance with the US, he added.