INDIA NUKED!!!!!!! UPA Govt Knows it Before????

Secret N-deal note leaked in US, PM holds meeting

Hours before the crucial Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting in Vienna on Wednesday, where the fate of the Indo-US nuclear deal is to be decided, India got a big shock that could politically embarrass the Manmohan Singh government.

The US House Foreign Relations Committee led by a congressman who has been staunchly against the deal, has released a secret note that empowers the US to stop selling nuclear technologies to India and terminate nuclear trade if New Delhi conducts a nuclear test.

The 26-page note was sent to the committee by the State department way back in January in reply to queries sought on the 123 Agreement.

In one of the answers the note says a clause in the 123 Agreement, which assures fuel supply to India by other friendly nations will no longer be valid in the event of a test.

Ultimately, it's up to each individual country but this indicates that the US will not lobby for nuclear fuel on India's behalf.

Given the timing of this note, other countries at the NSG meet may ask why they should agree to give a waiver to India, when the US itself is so tough on India.

While these answers to committee are not an official agreement nor binding on New Delhi, they do reveal a difference in perception on the agreement.

Senior Congressman Howard Berman who heads the House committee has spoken out against the deal before and so the timing of this leak is no coincidence.

But US Ambassador to India David C Mulford has said that there's nothing secretive about this letter. In a statement released on Wednesday he said, "This letter contains no new conditions and there is no data in this letter which has not already been shared in an open and transparent way with members of Congress and with the Government of India."

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held a Congress core group meeting on the N-deal issue on Wednesday evening and Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar was flown in urgently to Delhi for consultation.

Defending the N-deal, the government has said that the document is non-binding and an internal US document.

Meanwhile, BJP has slammed the UPA government on the N-deal saying it has misled the country.

What's different from 123

While much of the letter is similar in substance to the arguments one has heard but the tone and tenor is what is riling the Indians

The clause for ending nuclear co-operation after a nuclear test by India in the 123 Agreement makes a case for long drawn consultations but this letter talks of the process being fast tracked.

The 123 Agreement enunciates that India can seek 'sensitive nuclear technology' after an amendment to the bilateral agreement but the Q&A released on Wednesday says 'the administration does not plan to negotiate an amendment to the proposed US-India agreement to transfer sensitive nuclear facilities or critical components of such facilities'.