Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said that his fears about the Indo-US nuclear deal have come true with the US government arming itself with new laws to force India to give more concessions.
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In a statement released to media persons in New Delhi on Thursday, Vajpayee said, "In July last year, I had expressed my reservations about the Indo-US nuclear deal. Many of my fears have unfortunately come true, as the negotiations on this deal have progressed. It is crystal clear that in every round of negotiations with the US, India has ended up giving more and more concessions."
He referred in particular to the latest draft of the Waiver–Authority Bill introduced in the US Congress. "According to this Bill, a waiver will be granted by the President when India meets the seven conditions, which have been mentioned in the Bill. The course of action of the government of India, in future, will thus be determined not by laws passed by the Parliament of India or by international covenants to which we are party, but by the law framed by the US Congress," the former prime minister said.
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He expressed the shock over a particular clause, which says that if the US government determines that India exploded a nuclear device, the US president would be empowered to terminate waivers.
"The obligations under this Bill are far more stringent than those under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The CTBT cannot come into force until forty odd countries, including, the US, China and Pakistan, adhere to it. The Bill, when passed, will convert a voluntary moratorium on further tests by India into a legally binding commitment, for all times to come, without any possibility of withdrawal under special circumstances, as provided for in the CTBT. This position is not acceptable," he pointed out.
"In case of China, the US government amended the waiver for perpetuity but in case of India it would be reviewed from time to time. It is left to the US President to decide whether India is adhering to its commitments or not. This is not acceptable to us," he said.
"The least the government of India should do is to insist that there should be an all-time waiver by the US President as in the case of China. Further, India should retain the right to conduct nuclear tests if any other country, such as China or Pakistan, were to do so," Vajpayee said.
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