Cong rejects Left criticism of PM

Congress today rejected Left parties criticisms of the Indo-US nuclear agreement reached during the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying India had gained considerably "without conceding anything" and had been recognised as a nuclear state.

"We believe that India has gained. The segregation it had a few years ago has now been ended. We believe that without conceding any thing we have gained a recognition as a prominent nuclear state," Party Spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.

Disagreeing with Left's criticism of the issue, he said the country has given up none of its sovereign rights and "We look upon this as a big comprehensive success, which was unthought of two years ago."

"We do not agree with the Left criticism. Though they have their own opinion on the issue, the time has come to endorse what has been achieved. We stand by what the Prime Minister has said," Singhvi said, adding, in international relations, every country safeguards its national interests.

"Perhaps US President George W Bush's decision with regard to India was keeping an eye on India's huge market potential," he said.

Asked specifically as to what happened to Rajiv Gandhi's cherished disarmament dream, he said the late prime minister was for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, not first use of nuclear weapons and was opposed to discriminatory nuclear politics.

"I think all these have been advocated during the visit," Singhvi said.