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BJP urges 'no' on India-U.S. nuke deal

NEW DELHI, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- India's leading opposition party is calling for parliament to reject the U.S.-India nuclear agreement the U.S. Congress passed last week.

The Bharatiya Janata Party said at a news conference Sunday the deal to ease nuclear trade restrictions with India is a U.S. effort to strong-arm its nuclear weapons program and create restrictions on its nuclear energy program.

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The United States and India have been in negotiations since 2005 when the leaders of the two countries announced plans to increase nuclear energy cooperation. But U.S. law forbids passing on nuclear technology and materials to India because it has not signed key international agreements on nuclear proliferation and weapons testing.

U.S. legislators insisted on including certain safeguards into the deal, which some Indian leaders called overly intrusive into its sovereign rights.

"The Act passed by the U.S. legislature leaves us in no doubt that the purpose of the deal is to bilaterally impose on India conditionalities which are worse than those in the NPT (nuclear non-proliferation treaty) and the CTBT (Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty)," former Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said.

Former minister Arun Shourie said the legislation didn't allow for a full cooperation between the two countries on civilian nuclear energy and did not guarantee fuel shipments, The Hindu newspaper reports.

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The BJP statement said they have the backing of India's nuclear scientists as well.

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