Govt sends new note on Hyde, LF says old argument

In an effort to prove that the Left’s concern over the impact of Hyde Act on the 123 agreement is untenable,

In an effort to prove that the Left’s concern over the impact of Hyde Act on the 123 agreement is untenable, the Government on Tuesday came up with the explanation that the Act was only an “enabling legislation” and not an “implementing mechanism” for the nuclear deal.

It reiterated its argument in a 14-page note with six page annexure that was sent to the Left parties. The note also reminds that the 123 agreement is a “bilaterally-negotiated agreement” whereas the Hyde Act is the legislation of a “foreign land, which cannot be binding on India”.

The Left parties are expected to submit their second note on the impact of Hyde Act and the nuclear deal on security — “foreign policy and strategic partnership with the US” taken together — on October 5, when the next meeting of the UPA-Left political committee is scheduled.

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However, the Left sources said the Government did not say anything “new” in Tuesday’s note, which is a reply to the Left’s “rejoinder” to an earlier note by the Government allaying their fear on the impact of the Hyde Act on 123 and self-reliance in the nuclear sector.

“We are studying the document, but what we understand from the primary reading of the note is that they did not say anything new,” a senior Left leader said.

The Left sources said the note did not address their “primary argument that the Hyde is inbuilt in the 123 agreement” and the question is about the “the 123 and Hyde not over-riding each other”.

The sources said that the argument of “Hyde Act becoming irrelevant once the 123 agreement becomes a law” does not stand along with the statement that “not mentioning” international agreements does not mean that international laws won’t apply to the Indo-US deal.