'US didn't have guts to offer us same N-deal'

Yashwant Sinha, former external affairs minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, has claimed that the US government did not have the guts to offer the Vajpayee government the kind of nuclear deal that it offered to the government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2005.

Sinha was addressing a press conference in New Delhi on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party at Parliament complex on Tuesday.

"There is lot of misinformation that is being spread that we had been offered a similar deal by the US government. They did not dare to offer us any such deal as they knew that the Vajpayee government would immediately reject the deal," he said.

He said his party felt that just as the nuclear bill has been discussed and passed by the House of Representatives and later it would be discussed by the Senate, the draft treaty should also be discussed in both houses of Parliament and the government should adopt a resolution in Parliament.

"The agreement was two pages long when signed, now it is 25 pages long and new conditions are being added. The government of India should reject these conditions. These conditions are trying to cap the Indian nuclear programe," he said.

He lamented the statement of Dr Singh that one key reactor, which produces one third of the nuclear weapons, would be closed by 2010.

"This would mean that our capacity would be reduced by one third. If the government does not bring a resolution, then the BJP will bring a resolution on our own stating the Indian position of what is acceptable and to what limit. We are opposed to the US-India treaty on nuclear issues. What is important to note is that the discussions in the House of Representatives did not mention a word about nuclear power. On the contrary, Pakistan continues to produce weapon grade urainium and nothing is said by the US about it," he said.

Speaking about the identity of the so-called mole in former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao's government, Sinha said that whatever was to be said on the matter had been said by Jaswant Singh. "No, we are not embrassed. The party is with him," he said.