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| India-Pakistan |
| PM would get bullet in China for lying - Fernandes |
| 2007-08-17 |
| NEW DELHI: If Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was China's head of government he would have been shot for "bluffing" to the nation over a controversial nuclear deal with the United States, former defence minister George Fernandes said. The landmark agreement opens the way for civilian nuclear cooperation between the two countries, but critics say it will eventually hurt India's nuclear security because of U.S. laws on nuclear trade governing the pact. "What has emerged is that the prime minister of the country has betrayed the nation by continuous bluffing, something unbecoming of the head of the government," Fernandes, who was part of the previous Hindu nationalist-led government, said in a statement. "If it were China, they would have settled it with one bullet in his head," the maverick veteran politician said in the statement sent to Reuters on Friday. The deal aims to give India access to U.S. nuclear fuel and equipment for the first time in three decades despite New Delhi having tested nuclear weapons and not having signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Both the Hindu nationalist opposition and communist allies of Singh's Congress party-led coalition have attacked the historic nuclear deal, saying it was an unfair and unequal pact. Singh has strongly defended the deal, saying it is crucial for India's development and would not impact New Delhi's foreign or security policies. |
| Posted by:john frum |