The dissension between the Manmohan Singh government and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party over the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement, came out in the open in Washington, DC when BJP's Manvendra Singh, who is part of the delegation of visiting Indian parliamentarians, declared that 'surely the heavens would not fall, if the deal were not consummated.'
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Speaking at a roundtable discussion organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the US-India Business Council, Singh -- who took to the podium others members of the delegation emphasized the importance of the agreement for the envisaged Indo-US strategic partnership -- argued, "Surely, India and the US have far more points of attraction than an issue and a subject, which just about eight years ago, brought India sanctions."
"And in these eight years, we have moved to a point where we are attempting to recreate the global (nonproliferation) regime," he said, adding, "So I want to caution you that there is far more in common in terms of policy and vision than just a single issue."
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Earlier, in opening remarks, leader of the delegation B Jay Panda of the Biju Janata Dal declared that apart from the real benefits for energy and for other areas of cooperation, the nuclear deal was highly symbolic. "It is symbolic of taking the Indo-US relationship to that next level for which it always had the potential," he said.
While acknowledging that he is a member of the opposition, he asserted, "I have in fact, publicly spoken out in favour of the agreement. No agreement is perfect and all of us are entitled to have our personal opinions."
"But I am sure you understand the difference between rhetoric and actual political positions," Panda said, reiterating that there was broad consensus on the deal.
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Singh, however, argued: "We have a problem. I will be very explicit about it. To put it in a nutshellÂ… just as society is not static, neither is technology. Technology evolves and so do requirements for the future. And, we have a problem in terms of whether the agreement binds us in a technical bind."
Singh said, "I find the Indo-US Space agreement far more exciting and it is totally unreported. It is worth a breaking news story if you look at it in a deep sense.'
Later in an interview with rediff .com, Singh reiterated, "We are not for the agreement for technical reasons. The politics of the deal, I understand completely. We are completely in favour of the politics of the deal, because politics has a larger global vision. But to achieve that global vision, the way it is being done is wrong," he said.
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Singh complained, "Both the governments have not thought the implementation through properly. And, you are rushing through something. If a man and woman meet, is there only one point of attraction? Then there is something wrong in the relationship there."
"The Senate killed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty for reasons of national security, sovereignty, everything," Singh recalled, adding, "And now, the same thing is being brought about as far as we are concerned by binding us on the testing regulations."
"I am not saying that we need to test right now or in the future. But it is a possibility. Suppose the Chinese walked out of the CTBT and they started testing, what do we do," he asked.
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The BJP leader said his party does not want to be a 'treaty-breaker.' He pointed out that India had been scrupulous in abiding by all treaties and agreements even in cases where it was not a signatory and that it had a very good record.
"But there is a technical hitch here in terms of how it is being managed politically by the two Administrations. The way it is being pushed as a make or break thing -- I mean, that if we do not do this deal then we are coming apart -- that is insulting to our intellect," he said.