When Manmohan Singh confided in Kalam about...

January 03, 2025 14:45

Economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Friday spoke of the efforts former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took to convince the opposition parties during his second term for the Indo-US nuclear deal. Ahluwalia, former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India, said that Dr Singh had to confide with then-President APJ Abdul Kalam, asking him to have a conversation with then-Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh who was opposing the nuclear deal with the left parties. The left parties had taken a vote of confidence and wanted to vote the government out of power,

Ahluwalia said. "Manmohan Singh had to undertake the Indo-US nuclear deal while going against the opposition from within his party, strong opposition from the left. He had to do a lot of political maneuvering since the left had a vote of confidence and they wanted to vote the government out of power. He was able to avoid the problem because he brought in President APJ Abdul Kalam to persuade Mulayam Singh as a scientist. Mulayam Singh agreed after talking to President Kalam and ended up supporting the government," Ahluwalia told ANI in an exclusive interview.

Ahluwalia said that for Manmohan Singh, India's forward movement could only happen if the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) restrictions were lifted and that was possible because of the relationship the former Prime Minister shared with then-US President George Bush, which ensured the removal of the NSG restrictions. -- ANI

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