Former Union law minister Ram Jethmalani spoke strongly in support of the Indo-US nuclear deal while observing here on Monday that the deal was crucial to India’s economic progress. “India badly needs nuclear fuel,” he said.
Jethmalani was speaking on the ‘Indo-US Nuke deal’ at the first of the public lecture series launched by the Symbiosis International University (SIU). The function, held at Symbiosis Vishwabhavan, was presided over by SIU founder head S.B. Mujumdar.
Jethmalani singled out the CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat-led Left parties for criticism over their opposition to the Nuke deal. The opposition was based on presentation of wrong version of the deal and misrepresentation of contents from the agreement, he said.
“I would not accuse (Left parties) of lack of integrity but such misrepresentation smacks of total ignorance,” he added. “Worldover, the Communists have failed and have succeeded only in creating and distributing poverty,” he observed.
Jethmalani went on to comment that nothing as beneficial as the Nuke deal had happened to India in the last 60 years and this was primarily due to factors like the US democracy’s growing realisation that friendship with India was worthwhile.
Tracing the background, he observed that both India and US were pushed into the wrong blocks with the former getting identified with the Soviet block and the US getting obsessed with building sites of inspections, defence and aggression around the Communist regimes to ensure that the latter do not turn aggressors.
The situation had, nevertheless, changed and much credit for the Nuke deal should go to prime minister Manmohan Singh, said Jethmalani while describing the PM as an ‘unassuming man of great integrity.’