Triumph of UPA's policy: Tharoor on Indo-US nuke deal

He ridiculed the Modi govt for celebrating something the BJP had disagreed when in Opposition

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor today termed the Indo-US nuclear deal as a "triumph" of the UPA's policy and ridiculed the Narendra Modi government for celebrating something the BJP had disagreed when in Opposition.

"It is particularly ironic that this is the very government which, when in Opposition, moved a no-confidence motion against the UPA on the very issue of Indo-US nuclear deal and now celebrates it.

"Then this is the very government which, when in Opposition, had tried to insist upon the stringent provisions of the nuclear liability law whose dilution they are now being pursuing," the MP from Thiruvananthapuram told PTI.

"What we are celebrating is the triumph of everything the BJP opposed when they were in Opposition," he said.

On January 25, India and the US broke the seven-year-old logjam in operationalising their landmark civil nuclear deal, resolving hurdles pertaining to the liability of suppliers of nuclear reactors in the event of an accident and the tracking of fuel supplied by America.

While US companies had reservations over India's stringent liability law that puts the onus for any accident on suppliers, New Delhi had some disagreement over America's insistence on control in perpetuity over the nuclear fuel and equipment.

Tharoor said the Congress wants to see the fine print of the nuclear deal that has been announced before offering its stand.

"To the best of my knowledge, my party has not been specifically consulted by the government but it is true that President Obama himself called on Congress party leadership - Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi - and therefore there has been due respect paid to the fact that much of what is being celebrated today was accomplished yesterday by us," he said.

He also said that when "BJP government acts in the country's interests, then I believe it is our duty as patriotic Indians to support the government on issues of India's interests".