Operationalisation of 123 not on hold, says Govt

The UPA Government on Friday clarified that neither has the operationalisation of the 123 Agreement been put on hold, nor does it intend to press the pause button on negotiations for India-specific IAEA safeguards.

The UPA Government on Friday clarified that neither has the operationalisation of the 123 Agreement been put on hold, nor does it intend to press the pause button on negotiations for India-specific IAEA safeguards.

The clarification came from two ministers of the Government even as the Opposition NDA and Samajwadi Party disrupted proceedings in both Houses of Parliament decrying the formation of a UPA-Left committee on the deal and demanded the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) instead. The Government, however, shot down the idea of the JPC.

With ambiguity surrounding the “operationalisation” of the deal, especially because of the Left linking it with the next step of negotiations for IAEA safeguards, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated the Government’s preparedness to go ahead with the negotiations. “Talks cannot be part of operationalisation. Outcome of talks could be positive or negative, but it is not operationalisation until it (123 agreement) is put into effect,” he said.

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Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi minced no words at a press conference later: “Negotiations on the Indo-US nuclear deal are not on hold.”

Meanwhile, Congress sources said UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will decide on the names for the UPA-Left committee and it is likely to be finalised by Monday. Sources said there would be six members from the Left—Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, A B Bardhan, D Raja, Debabrata Biswas and Abani Roy—and six to eight members from the Congress and its allies including Pranab Mukherjee, Ahmad Patel, A K Antony, Kapil Sibal, Sharad Pawar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, and a DMK leader, among others.

Earlier, in the Lok Sabha, the BJP moved a Privilege Motion against the Government for announcing the formation of the committee outside Parliament when it is in session. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee admitted the notice for the motion given by Deputy Leader of Opposition V K Malhotra, but a decision was yet to be taken. The BJP, the JD (U) and the SP also demanded the formation of a JPC saying the nuclear deal was not a family matter that could be decided by just the UPA and the Left.

Pranab Mukherjee rejected the demand saying, “the power which has not been vested by the Constitution cannot be obtained by the MPs simply by resorting to the disruption of the House. On behalf of the Government, I am making it clear that there will be no formation of JPC to discuss the nuclear deal.” As for the UPA-Left committee, the minister said, “This is an internal arrangement between the UPA and its supporters.”

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Taking a dig at L K Advani’s previous demand for amendment in the Atomic Energy Act and for ratification of international treaties by Parliament, he said “Why they did not do it when they were in power for six years. Because they lack conviction. That is the problem with Advani.”