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History will compliment us, says Indian prime minister
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said nuclear deal is "a giant step forward" towards India becoming a major global power without compromising the country's strategic programme or independent foreign policy.
- IANS
- Published: 00:03 July 23, 2008
- Underlining that it was not just an agreement with the US, Manmohan Singh said it was a "passport" for nuclear trade with all 45 Nuclear Suppliers' Group countries.
- Image Credit: AP
New Delhi: Describing the nuclear deal as a passport to global nuclear trade and linking it up with national development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said it is "a giant step forward" towards India becoming a major global power without compromising the country's strategic programme or independent foreign policy.
"I am convinced that despite their opportunistic opposition to the nuclear agreement, history will compliment the UPA [United Progressive Alliance] government for having taken another giant step forward to lead India to become a major power centre of the evolving global economy," Manmohan Singh told the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, in a stirring reply to two days of an acrimonious trust motion debate.
Belligerent opposition
Copies of the speech were distributed after a belligerent opposition did not let him speak beyond a few sentences, demanding his resignation after three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs alleged that they were being bribed to abstain from voting.
The prime minister stressed that the nuclear agreement will not only "end India's nuclear isolation, nuclear apartheid and enable the country to take advantage of international nuclear trade" but would also make it "an important exporter of nuclear technologies, and equipment for civilian purposes."
"There is nothing in this agreement which will affect our strategic autonomy or our ability to pursue an independent foreign policy," he said.
Underlining that it was not just an agreement with the US, Manmohan Singh said it was a "passport" for nuclear trade with all 45 Nuclear Suppliers' Group countries.
"Change in the NSG guidelines would be a passport to trade with 45 members of the NSG which includes Russia, France, and many other countries," he said.
He, however, thanked the US for taking initiative without which "India's case for approval by the IAEA or the NSG would not have moved forward".
Singh said the debate was "unnecessary" as he had assured them that the nuclear agreement "after being endorsed by the IAEA and the NSG would be submitted to this august House for expressing its view."
"They wanted a veto over every single step of negotiations which is not acceptable. They wanted me to behave as their bonded slave," he said.
He also underlined that although the nuclear agreement was not part of the UPA's Common Minimum Programme, there was an "explicit mention" in the Congress election manifesto about "the need for strategic engagement with the US and other great powers, such as Russia."
Rebutting allegations that the government was engaged in "secret or hidden agreements," the prime minister said: "I wish to state categorically that there are no secret or hidden documents other than the 123 agreement, the Separation Plan and the draft of the safeguard agreement with the IAEA." He also underscored a major change in global perception of India from the time it conducted nuclear tests in 1998.
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