Click to play videoWhile the Left-UPA standoff over Indo-US nuclear deal seems to have been put on the backburner as of now, it’s just a temporary breather. As the two sides gear up for another showdown on October 22, CNN-IBN gets a perspective on some of the primary objections of the Left Front. On Face the Nation, Vice President of Delhi Science Forum, Prabir Purkayastha, also a close adviser to CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat answered some important questions.
Why must the Indian voter worry about American imperialism?
I don’t think the Indian voter should be silent about what India’s foreign policy should be. I think they have an opinion that’s an opinion they should express.
Why should a treaty that gives India nuclear fuel be considered a ‘rape of sovereignty’?
The problem is the way you formulate the question and look at the issue. Nuclear deal is part of a larger strategic sect of alliances. We have a Defence Agreement of 2005, a Logistics Agreement that’s on the table and we are also talking about a range of other such agreements. The nuclear deal is one way to make India’s future nuclear energy programme dependent on US and other energy powers. That is something we are not looking it.
But hypothetically speaking, if US invades Iran, it would be irrespective of Indo-US treaty. So why blame the treaty?
If America invades Iran, I wouldn’t like Indian soil to be used as a base for attacks on Iran. The Logistics Service Agreement would mean US ships go bomb Iran, come back, have rest and recreation on Indian soil and go back again.
America remains India’s biggest foreign investor, India would get 22,000 MW of power and 15,8000 MW will go to rural areas. George Bush has put lobbies like Pakistan and China and has given India a deal despite not signing the NPT. Why rue?
As far as foreign capital is concerned, that’s extraneous to the issue. We are not talking of American capital coming into India here. We are talking strategic alliances. We are talking of lining up with America for invasions even if we don’t send our troops there. That’s very different from Indians living in US or American capital being flown into India.
But India did permit refueling for Gulf War.
We did that under duress and there were widespread protests then. If you think we as Indians want our soil to be used for attacks on any other country – particularly the countries we have no animosity with – that’d be in US interest not ours. Our problem is not with America, it’s with their government and policies they have pursued, particularly of invading other countries. We haven’t invested in power for 15 years, of which Manmohan Singh was the finance minister for 10 years. Suddenly we discover there’s shortage of power. Why this sudden love for nuclear power? What prevented us from investing in the sector for so many years?
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