BJP wants PM to reject US conditions on nuke deal

NEW DELHI: Picking holes in the draft US law that will enable civilian nuclear cooperation with India, the BJP on Thursday demanded rejection of the conditions that could restrict the country's independent nuclear doctrine and render infructuous its minimum nuclear deterrent policy.

Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who described the plan to have civilian nuclear cooperation with the US as unacceptable, told a news conference that his party believed the deal would freeze India's nuclear deterrence capabilities.

His comments came two days after a key US Congress house committee endorsed the agreement by a 37-5 vote.

"Looking at the language and the terms and conditions to be fulfilled for the deal to take its real shape... it becomes abundantly clear that American negotiators have succeeded in India getting into the CTBT regime and also signing a fissile material cutoff treaty -- a draft of which has been recently introduced by the US in the Commission on Disarmament in Geneva," he said.

Joshi insisted that India would face a ban on nuclear testing once the deal wins US Congress approval.

Also, he voiced fears that the pact puts New Delhi at risk of losing its nuclear superiority over Pakistan.

"The Prime Minister should reject the conditions that deny India its minimum nuclear deterrence and subject the country to a ban on nuclear testing," Joshi remarked.