The Indian government came under renewed pressure yesterday over a controversial nuclear deal with the US as lawmakers accused Washington of arm-twisting New Delhi to curb its atomic program.
Not only was Washington seeking to indirectly cap New Delhi's nuclear weapons program, it was also trying to impinge on India's right to pursue atomic research for peaceful purposes, they said.
The new criticism came in a debate in parliament amid rising concerns that US congressmen were moving the goalposts over the deal through amendments to legislation that needs to be approved before the deal is sealed.
A group of Indian scientists, the governing party's communist allies and the main Hindu nationalist opposition say that last month's agreement between India and the US for civilian nuclear cooperation was modified by US lawmakers with the insertion of new clauses last month.
Eight scientists in an open letter to lawmakers on Monday said the current deal "infringes on our independence for carrying out indigenous research and development in nuclear science ... Research and technology development are the sovereign rights of any nation."
"We have never been in any doubt over the deleterious impact of this deal," Yashwant Sinha, a lawmaker from India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, told the upper house of parliament.
"We believe it was meant to cap India's nuclear weapons program, our strategic program," said Sinha, a former foreign minister.
The parliament debate came weeks before the US Senate is expected to vote on the landmark deal after the House of Representatives gave overwhelming backing to it last month.
The deal also needs the joint approval of the two houses after negotiations on technical details of the pact and the backing of the Nuclear Suppliers Group of nations that regulates global atomic trade.
The civilian nuclear cooperation pact gives nuclear-armed India access to US atomic fuel and equipment, despite New Delhi not having signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to help meet its soaring energy needs.
In return, New Delhi has agreed to international inspections of its civilian nuclear reactors and the segregation of its civilian and military programs.
MONEY GRAB: People were rushing to collect bills scattered on the ground after the plane transporting money crashed, which an official said hindered rescue efforts A cargo plane carrying money on Friday crashed near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said. Bolivian Minister of Defense Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city adjacent to La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to put out the flames that engulfed the aircraft. Fire chief Pavel Tovar said at least 15 people died, but
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
RSS