Friday, August 25, 2006

how manmohan singh is sacrificing the national interest: bharat karnad

aug 24th, 2006

why? that is the question.

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PM is Risking national interest
<http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1=6&cat2=42&newsid=\
243016
>



- By Bharat Karnad


Compelled by political pressure from all sides, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh in Parliament finally defined the limit of
concessions beyond which he thinks he cannot go in placating the
United States in the proposed nuclear deal without destabilising
his government. But this belated spine-straightening act may spur
the non-proliferationists in Washington, who want to leave India
no wriggle room, into insisting the Senate version of the amended
US Atomic Energy Act containing many of the measures the PM has,
in effect, dubbed "deal killers," become law. Short of the US
Congress removing the offensive provisions or Manmohan Singh
going back on his word, a breakdown of the deal is imminent.

Indeed, it is the politics of US Congress� non-proliferation
law-making that all along held out the hope that India would
escape strategic strangulation by default, particularly because
the Manmohan Singh regime has not shown it can discern what is in
the country�s best interests, leaving it vulnerable to the
official American line that gives the impression of mutual gain
when actually it mostly serves US interests. I said this as a
panellist in a discussion held at the India International Centre
on August 3, 2005 � a prognosis proved right a year later.
The Prime Minister keeps justifying what he has done by invoking
"enlightened national interest." But according to the evidence
thus far, this seems only a rhetorical veil behind which he has
felt free to make indefensible concessions.

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daisies said...
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