The Left’s ideological position on the Indo-US nuclear deal is becoming precarious by the day adding to more confusion on the ground. It is also clear that the Left is fighting within itself to speak with one voice. In the last 24 hours more varying messages are emanating from within the Left’s rank. To add insult to public conscience, the Left appears to be changing positions on a daily basis. Initially the Left had taken the unambiguous stand that India should not go ahead with the upcoming meeting with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Now the CPI (M) says that it was not against the government participating in the IAEA meet in Vienna next month but put a rider that there should not be any negotiations on the India-specific safeguards with regard to the 123 agreement. The questions for the Left is even if the government was to raise the 123 agreement at Vienna, is it such a grave threat to India’s security or national interest and will it then withdraw support on this specious ground. Interestingly on Tuesday the visiting Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe indicated that Tokyo would play a positive role at the NSG to help India’s case for getting crucial supplies for its nuclear plants—which is the next step in augmenting the civil nuclear deal with the United States. Is it likewise a problem for the Left if a visiting premier hosted by the government speaks on matters related to the 123 agreement? The Left must take a more rational approach on the Indo-US nuclear deal and not allow its ideological dogmatism to cloud its sense of pragmatism, which is the need of the hour.
On the political front, what will surprise many is the Left’s claim of representing national or people’s interest. In this regard, the CPI-M on Tuesday issued a stern warning asking the government to “decide whether it would go with the US or “remain firmly with the people”. The problem with this particular assessment of the people Vs the government (on the nuclear deal) is that the Left itself does not have the mandate of the people if one was to look at the issue of majority support in the Indian Parliament. But if at all the Left calculates that the nuclear deal must be taken to the people, it should take the bold step and immediately withdraw support so that the Indian people’s mandate (of approval or disapproval) on the Indo-US nuclear deal can be decided once and for all. The Left on its part should likewise be made to answer some serious questions related to India’s national interest and the China factor.
It will also be appropriate to mention here that except for the Left whose opposition to the deal is ‘ideological’, the others including the BJP are only ‘politically’ opposed to the deal. In fact the Indo-US nuclear deal for all intents and purpose is the outcome of the strategic partnership started under the previous NDA regime following India’s nuclear test at Pokhran. So the BJP does not have any real basis to oppose the deal other than to take a political stand as opposed to the ideological stand of the Left, which, it has to be mentioned, is politically untenable for the latter in the long run. As far as the Left’s own interpretation of ‘national interest’ goes, its obsession with the Non-Aligned Movement should also be seen as a worrying factor for India’s future strategic initiatives. Whatever relevance it still holds for the world and for India, at least politically, nonalignment is dead and the Left should not live in the illusion of the past.
