Guest guest Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 US rush to gauge BJP mood >K.P. NAYAR >The Telegraph >May 1, 2006 > >New Delhi, April 30: After much introspection and internal debate, the BJP >has >finally taken an unambiguous stand: it is to vigorously oppose the Indo-US >nuclear deal in its present form. > >Alarmed at the prospect that growing opposition within the US Congress to >the >July 18, 2005, deal will now be compounded by a rejection of the pact by >India’s main Opposition party, American heavyweights just outside the Bush >administration who have huge influence on the White House are flying >into >New Delhi to assess the new mood in the BJP and to report back to >Washington. > >Robert Blackwill, former US ambassador to India, former White House aide >and a >“guru” to President George W. Bush on foreign policy, spent several hours >with >Jaswant Singh, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, on Friday night >over dinner on a flying visit to New Delhi to gauge the situation. > >Blackwill, who is now a lobbyist for the Indian government, is the prime >strategist in Washington directing the difficult process of congressional >approval for the nuclear agreement between Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan >Singh. > >Richard Haas, the influential president of the Council on Foreign Relations >and >director of policy planning in the US state department during Bush’s first >presidential term, similarly fixed up a meeting with the BJP leader for >Thursday during a stopover in New Delhi, but it was aborted by a change in >Haas’s travel plans. > >Jaswant Singh wrote a nine-page letter to Manmohan Singh on April 14, >giving a >final chance to the UPA regime to clear the BJP’s doubts about the deal, >but >the Prime Minister has been unable to reply to his queries though a >fortnight >has elapsed since the communication changed hands. > >The Prime Minister’s inability to clear specific doubts in the minds of BJP >leaders epitomises the current confusion in both Washington and Delhi about >the >spin-off from the deal and follow-up steps to which there is growing >opposition >in both countries. > >Following the letter, the BJP’s top leadership last week held discussions >here >with key members of the Overseas Friends of the BJP (OFBJP), the party’s >influential pressure group in the US, which has the widest Indian-American >network in the US and contacts with Congressmen. > >Even as the BJP was crystallising its stand on the deal, some OFBJP leaders >who >were in India for the talks expressed their inability to work for >congressional >approval of the deal as the Indian embassy in Washington has excluded them >from >the efforts to secure such approval. > >Supporters of the BJP in the US were the only major group that was >pointedly >kept out of a lunch at Washington’s Cosmos Club last month and a follow-up >briefing by the embassy the following day as part of finalising >Indian-American >strategy to broaden support in the US for the bilateral nuclear agreement. > >Apart from the BJP’s opposition to bringing in the Comprehensive Test Ban >Treaty >through the backdoor as part of the nuclear deal, the party’s opinion >appears to >have crystallised against the agreement for the following reasons. > >Jaswant Singh wrote to Manmohan Singh that after all the “significant >erosion in >our strategic space, an abandoning of our autonomy of action and 90 per >cent of >our nuclear plants for an intrusive International Atomic Energy Agency >(IAEA) >regime”, India would meet merely 8 per cent of its energy requirements, >that >too in two decades. > >The BJP believes, therefore, that the deal is simply not worth all the >sacrifices that are demanded of India. > >Jaswant Singh wrote that Indians are learning about various strings >attached to >the deal from US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and hearings in the US >Congress, an example being the ongoing Indo-US talks on the global >Proliferation Security Initiative. > >“The government should keep the country informed rather than our learning >of >such developments from the US,” he told Manmohan Singh. > >Jaswant Singh suspected that opaque commitments made by the UPA government >to >Washington to secure the deal will lead to curbs on India’s missile >development >and a nuclear fuel cap: the BJP is opposed to both. > > > > >------------------------------- >This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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