New Delhi: Under attack from the Opposition for "compromising" national sovereignty by agreeing to allow US inspection of military installations, the government on Tuesday asserted it has not bargained India's interest by going in for the End-User Monitoring Agreement with America.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said "nobody should have anxiety" about the national interest being "surrendered". However, he said the government has to keep negotiating and "bargaining" if India wants high-end defence technology and equipment.
In identical statements in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, he gave an overview of the agreements reached with the US during the visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday.
"We have agreed on the end-use monitoring arrangements (EUMA) that will henceforth be referred to in letters of acceptance for Indian procurement of US defence technology and equipment.
This systematises ad hoc arrangements for individual defence procurements from the USA entered into by previous governments," the minister said.
However, the Opposition, including BJP and Left parties, dubbed the agreement as "surrendering" national sovereignty and staged walkout in both the Houses.
Leading the walk-out in the lower house, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani said the Opposition was dissatisfied with the government statement and the move would "send a wrong message" across the country.
In the Lok Sabha, Advani expressed anguish over Krishna not clarifying concerns of the opposition with regard to EUMA.
He also called for amendments to the Constitution to ensure important agreements signed by the government are ratified by Parliament, like in the US. He said it was unimaginable that an outsider would monitor the use of defence equipment bought by India.
Terming EUMA as a surrender to the US, CPI-M leader Basudeb Acharia said: "We did not want this statement..."
CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said the agreement would permit US to inspect India's defence establishments.
Departing from the convention of not giving clarifications on government statements in the Lok Sabha, Krishna said he was surprised by interpretation by the Opposition to the bilateral understanding and there was "nothing extraordinary" in it.
"We are conscious of what we are doing... We tried to generalise it (EUMA) for high-end purchases with the US. Everything is very straight. We have done it in the interest of the country," Krishna said.
Sharing opposition concern in the Rajya Sabha, DMK, an ally of the UPA, also joined the opposition concerns when its member T Siva said the "apprehensions are genuine".
He said apprehensions arose because the US was also friendly to a neighbouring country (Pakistan) which was unfriendly to India. "Without any comprise, our sovereignty must be upheld", he said.
Soon after Krishna's statement, Advani expressed anguish over the Minister not addressing the concerns of the House with regard to EUMA.
Advani also called for amendments to the Constitution to ensure important agreements signed by the country are brought to Parliament for ratification, as is the practice in countries like the US.
He said it was unimaginable that an outsider would monitor the use of defence equipment bought by India.
Supporting Advani, his party colleague Sushma Swaraj said besides the Opposition, the officials and CAG were opposed to such agreements and called for scrapping EUMA.
"We are in favour of friendship with US, but not for bullying by them," she added.
Former Foreign Minister and BJP leader Yashwant Sinha wanted to know from Krishna whether US equipment purchased from third party would also be subject to inspections under EUMA.
"We have a right to know what has been agreed with a foreign government. This statement is not worth the paper on which it is written," Sinha added.
Calling EUMA as a surrender to the US, CPI-M leader Basudeb Acharia said, "We did not want this statement. We demand a clarification."
While CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta expressed fears that the agreement would permit US to inspect India's defence establishments, SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav asked if US was India's master (Kya America hamara malik hai?).
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