New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday declared in the Lok Sabha that the Indo-US nuclear deal does not bar India from carrying out nuclear tests in future.
"If a necessity for carrying out a nuclear test arises in future, there is nothing in the agreement which prevents us from carrying out tests," he said in a brief intervention in the House.
The Prime Minister interjected to make this point during a short-duration discussion on the controversial Indo-US nuclear deal when the Leader of the Opposition L K Advani was making his speech.
Advani felt that the terms of the 123 agreement with the US would tie the hands of the government from conducting a nuclear test in future.
Singh said all that the government has done was only to reiterate what the BJP-led NDA government had done by committing itself to a unilateral moratorium on conducting nuclear tests.
“Our party has been the sole party till today in favour of the nuclear. 123 agreement does mention Hyde act, the government should not mislead people saying that the deal is all about energy. We should renegotiate the deal with all adverse opinion deleted from it,” Advani said.
Advani, in his speech, said the 123 agreement with the US was "unacceptable to the nation" and was "deeply detrimental" to its long-term interests.
He said if the NDA got a fresh mandate then it would renegotiate the deal with the US and get the harmful provisions deleted. If it were not possible the deal would be rejected, he added.
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