India News
Indian premier says he has not given up hope on nuclear deal
Oct 19, 2007, 7:16 GMT
New Delhi - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that he has not given up hope on an India-United States civilian nuclear deal, news reports said Friday.
There has been speculation that the Indian government has put the deal on hold after Singh called US President George Bush on Monday to say some difficulties had cropped up in implementing the deal.
The call came after weeks of negotiations with the Singh government's leftist allies, who have expressed reservations on the deal which would allow the US to export fissile technology and materials for Indian civilian reactors ending a 30-year ban.
'I have maintained there are some difficulties. We are a coalition. We have to find a way out. I have not given up hope yet,' Singh was quoted as saying to reporters on his way back from a trip to Africa.
Leaders of Singh's United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the left parties are scheduled to meet on Monday to further discuss the deal.
Singh also dismissed calls for his resignation from India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for appearing to have shelved the deal. The BJP has said Singh had lost the moral right to govern for backtracking on the nuclear deal.
'The BJP, of all political parties, is the least qualified to talk about the moral right to govern (as it was in power when) the holocaust in Gujarat took place,' Singh said.
The prime minister was referring to sectarian riots in the western Indian state in 2002 in which more than 2,000 people are estimated to have been killed.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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