New Delhi, July 22: Sonia Gandhi on Wednedsay chaired Congress’ high-level meeting to discuss response to the criticism that the government is facing over the Indo-US defence pact and the Indo-Pak joint statement.
She is reported to have told the party to stand by the PM on this issue. Senior Ministers including AK Antony and Pranab Mukherjee have been asked to fire fight the issue in media and in the House.
The party is expected to come out with an official statement on the issue later today.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also expected to speak in Parliament on issues relating to his foreign trip on July 29, reports claimed further.
The End User Monitoring Agreement and the Indo-Pak joint statement have undoubtedly become huge controversies, especially because the Parliament is in session. The Opposition had, infact, staged a walk out yesterday alleging “sell out” by the government.
The Indo-US defence pact, signed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister SM Krishna, allows for verification of end-use of military hardware that India purchases from the US.
The PM is also under fire for his joint statement with Pak PM Yusuf Raza Gilani that spoke of de-linking of the composite dialogue process from the action that Islamabad takes against anti-India elements operating from its soil.
On the deal with the US, the government has been consistently saying that the nation’s sovereignty has not been compromised. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said “nobody should have anxiety” about the national interest being “surrendered”. However, he said the government has to keep negotiating and “bargaining” if India wants high-end defence technology and equipment.
The government is also banking on the fact that the US has such agreements with 82 other countries but what India has got is a diplomatic victory as the US will not have a unilateral right to inspect India’s military bases or the military equipment it sells to India.
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon was also very vocal about the government’s stand and said, “This (End-User Monitoring Agreement) is the biggest victory for us. That’s what successive governments of India have been trying to work through with the US. There is no change in our policy.”
Noting that end-user agreements had been signed for contracts with the US since 1997 by successive governments, he said EUMA was an advancement of the process that had started years ago.
“The choice (of time and place of verification) is ours. It is we who are buying, receiving these things (equipment). It is up to us. We are only agreeing to a standard text for the agreement and it provides India joint ownership of the process,” he said.
But the Opposition and even some UPA allies are critical of the government accusing it of succumbing to US pressure and compromising on India’s sovereignty.
The BJP and the Left are especially peeved because they feel that after the agreement the US weapons inspectors can walk into Indian military installations on the pretext that they want to check the use of US hardware.
—-Agencies