With the Indo-US nuclear deal already turning into a major headache for the government, the BJP on Monday asked the Congress to take a clear stand on the issue instead of blaming others."Why do they blame either their partners or the Opposition. It is for them (Congress) to arrive at a solution," senior leader Jaswant Singh said while briefing on the foreign policy resolution adopted at the party's National Executive in New Delhi.The resolution severely criticises the Manmohan Singh government on several fronts and charges it with "dereliction" of duty in addressing foreign policy and national security challenges to the country.Against the backdrop of developments in Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh, it said India's immediate neighbourhood never went through such turmoil in the past 60 years as is being witnessed today. The government has never been as "inactive" as it is today.Turning to the nuclear deal, the party asked why it should plead with the BJP or blame the allies when "the Congress can, on its own, resolve this issue simply by taking a stand: 'for or against'. Why does it not do so?""Set your own house in order," it said while reiterating that the deal in the present form is unacceptable to the party and must be renegotiated.The resolution accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of "maladroit" handling of Indo-US ties, reducing them to a single issue relationship with a "now or never" kind of desperation attached to it.Asked whether the BJP was egging the government to go ahead with the nuclear deal, Singh said "it is not a question of egging. Take responsibility as a government. No government is obliged to seek a Parliamentary approval".The resolution on foreign policy failed to outline the party's stand on crucial issues but attacked the government's way of engaging countries like Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China and Russia."It is the BJP's charge that the Union Government has been derelict of its duties; violative of its oath of office to safeguard the country's interests; and has abdicated its responsibility by outsourcing its foreign and security policies to the Communists," it said.On Nepal, the party expressed satisfaction about the recent elections but noted that Maoists had only got about a third of the popular vote and that too through "intimidation"."It is important that unity of policy and action, of all the democratic forces in Nepal be maintained," it said noting that stability, progress and peace of the Himalayan country is a regional imperative, as important for Nepal as for India.Noting that the Maoists in Nepal have ties with Naxalites in India, he alleged this was a danger signal to the country whose vast stretches from North to the South is known as the red corridor.Singh alleged that the UPA government's Nepal policy has hit a "deadend" and said it acted in haste while praising the election results.The resolution asked the government to immediately clarify where it stands on the many questions that Nepal is now confronted with, he said and took a dig at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, wondering whether he is not a "free agent" in this context as well.
