I have seen a media report this evening quoting Union Minister Shri Kapil Sibal as saying that I had conveyed my “consent to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh over the Indo-US nuclear deal but later backed out.”

I strongly condemn this baseless claim, which is aimed at spreading disinformation and confusion in the run-up to the crucial trust vote that the UPA Government has had to face due to a crisis of its own making.

A similar claim was also made by Government sources a few days back and was effectively rebutted by our Party spokesman.

In my meeting with the Prime Minister in December 2007, I had conveyed to him that the BJP has all along maintained that the nuclear deal in its present form is unacceptable to the country because the Hyde Act passed by the US Congress, which governs the 123 Agreement, undermines India’s nuclear autonomy and imposes curbs on our strategic programme. I had suggested to him that Parliament should consider passing a suitable amendment to the Atomic Energy Act to insulate India from the negative effects of the Hyde Act.