BJP to renegotiate nuke deal if voted to power

JAIPUR: Alleging the Indo-US nuclear deal has undermined India's sovereignty, the BJP said on Sunday it would renegotiate the pact if it was voted to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
    
Addressing a press conference here, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh alleging for his own prestige, he had put India's sovereignty at stake on the nuke issue.
    
Expressing apprehensions over the deal, she said the BJP would renegotiate the agreement if it was voted to power in the next election.
    
On the NSG waiver at Vienna, Swaraj said though the 16-year embargo against India was lifted, the sovereignty of the country had been undermined.
    
Rubbishing UPA's claim that the deal was historic, she recalled that Moghul emperor Jehangir had permitted the East India Company for trading and in the process India became a slave for more than 250 years.
    
The BJP leader said after the leak of the US official correspondence on the agreement, it became clear that if India opted for nuclear tests the deal would be terminated.
    
The BJP, she said, would oppose the deal and would hold rallies and meetings in this regard across the country.
    
To a question, Swaraj said there was a difference between the BJP and Left's opposition to the deal. "The reasons and intentions of both parties are different," she said.
    
When asked why the BJP was opposing the deal, she said it was against India opening up its 35 reactors for inspection before the IAEA.
    
The BJP wanted only one reactor to be under the purview of IAEA inspection, she said.