Let Parliament set terms for Indo-US nuke deal: CPM

NEW DELHI: Urging Parliament to set the parameters for the government to proceed on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the CPM on Sunday asserted the accord would restrict the country's nuclear technology development in perpetuity and make its foreign policy a permanent hostage  to the US.

Like US President George Bush is bound by US Congress on how to proceed with the Indo-US deal, the government "should be bound by Parliament on the matter. Parliament must set the parameters and clearly define the limits to which it can proceed in this regard," CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat told reporters here.

Observing that the sense of Parliament on the matter was essential, he said developments in the last few months have "shown convincingly that this deal will not lift existing embargoes on technology, will keep Indian foreign policy a permanent hostage to the US and impose a host of discriminatory restrictions on the Indian nuclear programmme".

"In the current form, the deal will not be acceptable to the Indian people," Karat said, adding that Parliament should bind the government as it has done on issues like Iraq and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

At the Left-UPA Coordination Committee meeting on Saturday, the Left parties gave enough hints about taking the government to task in Parliament, saying the deal would compromise the indigenous nuclear development programme.