Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Kishenchand Advani on Thursday admitted that his party has softened its stand on the India-United States civil nuclear deal and will not stall the proceedings of the winter session of the Parliament.
"Both former secretary of state Henry Kissinger and US envoy to India Mulford met me to express their point of view. Mulford insisted that the earlier the deal goes through the better it would be," Advani said.
He admitted that giving up of JPC may seem to be softening of stand by the BJP. "But we would say what we have to under the Rules 184 and 193 under which the party has moved resolutions. Some of the officials have met us to allay our concerns but unfortunately they could not do anything. My understanding of the situation is that the Americans want to go through the deal by the end of this year or by March next year when it would be evident who the new contestants are.
"Once that happens the scene changes become evident. They want to convert their failure in the field of foreign policy into a success by telling the world that they have managed to bring India in the NPT regime through a different route," he said.