Advani: IAEA draft shows India as non-nuclear weapon state
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10/07/2008
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Indian Express (New Delhi)
Raising the pitch on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the BJP on Thursday slammed the Congress-led Government for "deceiving the country' by forwarding the safeguard draft of the nuclear deal to the IAEA members "even before winning a trust vote in Parliament'. "Our misgivings about the Government's approach have come true. A conspiracy is afoot to present the country a fait accompli. What has been done surreptitiously needs to be condemned. This is something that no Government should do, least of all a minority Government,' said senior party leader L K Advani. Riding the plank of nuclear nationalism, the BJP charged the Congress with "acquiescing to the US by accepting India as a non-nuclear weapon state'. "The draft agreement circulated in the IAEA contains safeguards that are actually meant for non-nuclear weapon states. The draft shows that India is being treated as a non-nuclear weapon state despite being a nuclear state,' said Advani. The BJP said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "had not honoured the assurances given by him to Parliament'. "The five nuclear weapon states together have around 400 plants out of which only 5 are open to inspection. India, on the other hand, has offered to give 14 out of its total 22 plants for inspection,' said BJP leader Arun Shourie. Claiming that there are no India-specific safeguards in the draft agreement, as originally promised by the interlocutors, the BJP said India had thrown open as many as 35 nuclear "facilities'