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NSA briefs opposition leader about Indo-US N-deal

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, August 2, IRNA
India-Nuke-Advani
National Security Advisor M K Narayanan on Thursday briefed leader of opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani about the draft nuclear agreement New Delhi had reached with Washington two weeks ago.

The briefing followed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s assurance to his predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee last week that India`s strategic programme would not be impacted by the nuclear deal with the US.

Advani was in Singapore when Singh briefed Vajpayee and his party colleagues Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Rajnath Singh and Arun Shourie about the salient features of the 123 agreement, PTI reported here.

The BJP has maintained that it will come out with its detailed comments on the nuclear pact after studying its text.

Party sources said that the NSA briefed Advani about the basic features of the nuclear deal, over which the BJP has its apprehensions.

The BJP, which voiced its concerns during the meeting with the Prime Minister, says its apprehension have not yet been dispelled completely.

Yashwant Sinha last week told reporters, after the meeting with the Prime Minister, that the text of the agreement was clearly frozen and neither India nor the US could now make any changes in it. He had said the government had not shared the text with the party leaders but shared only the main elements of the agreement.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister told the BJP delegation that India`s concerns had been adequately addressed in the 123 agreement.

Meanwhile, even as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) Central leadership is expected to receive the draft of the 123 Agreement by Thursday evening, the West Bengal Assembly on Wednesday adopted a motion demanding that the Union Government provide all details in Parliament regarding the Indo-US agreement for implementing the civil nuclear deal.

According to CPI(M) sources, the agreement has scientific and legal issues that need to be understood. So the party will be consulting scientists and lawyers for a better understanding of the provisions of the Agreement before coming out with a response.

The party's main concern seems to be how the Agreement will be affecting the scientific and research programs in the country, which it says is a matter of the "country's sovereignty". It also wants to find out how the nine points of concern, it had raised earlier in Parliament, is addressed in the Agreement.

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