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Indian communist leader vows no compromise on US nuke deal
New Delhi (AFP) Sept 29, 2007 Veteran Indian communist leader Jyoti Basu ruled out on Saturday "any compromise" with the government over a landmark nuclear deal with the US amid growing speculation about mid-term elections. India's communists have been putting pressure on the minority Congress government, saying they will do "whatever necessary" to stop it from implementing the civilian technology deal with the "imperialist" United States. "We cannot compromise. Let us see what the Congress does and then we shall take a decision," the 94-year-old Basu, considered the patriarch of India's Left, was quoted as saying in the eastern city of Kolkata by the Press Trust of India. Basu was speaking to reporters as he entered a meeting of the central committee meeting of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The row over the pact, seen as a cornerstone of deeper ties with Washington, has left Premier Manmohan Singh facing his biggest test since taking power in 2004 and has sparked the possibility of a general election more than a year ahead of schedule. The party, which props up the Congress coalition in parliament, told the government earlier this month it would face "serious consequences" if it chose to press ahead with the pact. But it has so far not said it would topple the minority administration. Basu was chief minister of the communist stronghold of West Bengal state in eastern India for nearly a quarter of a century and is regarded as a key party figure. The communists say the nuclear deal is part of a US bid to draw India into Washington's sphere of influence and make its foreign and weapons policy subservient to the United States. Basu and other figures in the communists' West Bengal powerbase had been arguing for a moderate approach, warning that in the event of the collapse of the government, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could stage a return to power. Now the West Bengal unit appeared to be signalling it believed the risk of aligning with the United States was as big a danger as a BJP comeback, Indian newspapers said on Saturday. "The 'equal evil' formulation suggests that the imperative to fight the BJP can no longer be justification for supporting a government which is in a strategic embrace with the 'imperial' US," said The Times of India. The Congress party, which is now more than three years into its five-year mandate, has said it is ready to make all efforts to address "legitimate concerns" over the agreement signed in 2005. Congress has set up a 15-member all-party committee to review objections by its left-wing allies to the nuclear accord. Related Links Nuclear Power News - Nuclear Science, Nuclear Technology Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy enters Chinese nuclear power market
Tokyo (AFP) Sept 28, 2007Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is making a full-scale entry into China's growing market for nuclear power generation as it has won a major order there, the company said Friday. |
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