Nuke deal needs to be debated: Yashwant

JAMSHEDPUR: The Indo-US civil nuclear deal needs to be debated as it would have a long-term impact on the country's nuclear programme, BJP Vice-President Yashwant Sinha said on Saturday.

"I am not interested in the prevailing differences within the UPA, but I am certainly concerned about the proposed deal, which, if implemented, will leave the country at the mercy of the US for our future nuclear programmes," the former external affairs minister said here.

"The deal is not the issue of an individual party, but a serious issue concerning the entire nation in view of security concerns and needed to be debated," he said.

He said the country's nuclear facilities would be directly under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if the deal was operationalised.

Stating that India has already made clear of its peaceful intentions in the nuke issue, he said, the sole objective of the deal was to stall the country's nuclear programme and the US would derive commercial benefit from it.

He also criticised the decision to shut down the Cirus and Apsara reactors, saying crores of rupees were spent for the modernisation of Cirus reactor under the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre and no reason was given for its shut down.