Military pact with US comes under fire; Govt says no surrender

New Delhi, July 21 (PTI) Under attack from the Opposition
for "compromising" national sovereignty by agreeing to allow
US inspection of military installations, the Indian government
Tuesday asserted it has not bargained India's interest by
going in for the End-User Monitoring Agreement with America.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said "nobody should
have anxiety" about the national interest being "surrendered".
However, he said the government has to keep negotiating and
"bargaining" if India wants high-end defence technology and
equipment.

In identical statements in both Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha, he gave an overview of the agreements reached with the
US during the visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Monday.

"We have agreed on the end-use monitoring arrangements
that will henceforth be referred to in letters of acceptance
for Indian procurement of US defence technology and equipment.
This systematises ad hoc arrangements for individual defence
procurements from the USA entered into by previous
governments," the minister said.

However, the Opposition, including BJP and Left parties,
dubbed the agreement as "surrendering" national sovereignty
and staged walkout in both the Houses.

Leading the walk-out in the lower house, Leader of the
Opposition L K Advani said the Opposition was dissatisfied
with the government statement and the move would "send a wrong
message" across the country.

In the Lok Sabha, Advani expressed anguish over Krishna
not clarifying concerns of the opposition with regard to EUMA.

He also called for amendments to the Constitution to
ensure important agreements signed by the government are
ratified by Parliament, like in the US. He said it was
unimaginable that an outsider would monitor the use of defence
equipment bought by India.

Terming EUMA as a surrender to the US, CPI-M leader
Basudeb Acharia said: "We did not want this statement..."

While CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said the agreement
would permit US to inspect India's defence establishments, SP

Departing from the convention of not giving clarifications
on government statements in the Lok Sabha, Krishna said he was
surprised by interpretation by the Opposition to the bilateral
understanding and there was "nothing extraordinary" in it.

"We are conscious of what we are doing... We tried to
generalise it (EUMA) for high-end purchases with the US.
Everything is very straight. We have done it in the interest
of the country," Krishna said.

Sharing opposition concern in the Rajya Sabha, DMK, an
ally of the UPA, also joined the opposition concerns when its
member T Siva said the "apprehensions are genuine".

He said apprehensions arose because the US was also
friendly to a neighbouring country (Pakistan) which was
unfriendly to India. "Without any comprise, our sovereignty
must be upheld", he said.

While India and the US have already started deal specific
inspection arrangement, it is now being formalised in the form
of a broader agreement applicable to all future defence deals.

The agreements on these lines related to purchase of USS
Trenton warship (rechristened INS Jalashwa by Indian Navy) in
2007 and the IAF's Boeing Business Jets for VVIP travel in
2008.

Giving clarifications in the Rajya Sabha, Krishna said "at
no point of time government was compromising sovereignty of
this country...No one is less patriotic than others."

It was more trouble when Krishna said that while
negotiating a defence deal, "don't you have to bargain?" He
said both the countries are governed by their own laws.

Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley and CPI-M leader
Sitaram Yechury, who later led walkouts, said the government
stand was nothing but amounted to surrendering. "If this is
not bargaining our sovereignty what else is this?" he asked. A
similar question was asked by Yechury.

Calling the minister's statement as "disturbing", Jaitley
said the UPA government compromised the country's interest in
several multilateral pronouncements -- be it Indo-Pakistan
joint statement at Sharm-el-Sheikh, climate change or G-8
declaration.

His views were endorsed by Yechury and Ram Gopal Yadav
(SP) who said the UPA government was also compromising the
interest of farmers in its zest to complete the Doha Round
of talks for reaching a global trade agreement.

D Raja (CPI) said Krishna's statement reflects a "big
compromise on our independent foreign policy" PTI NCB
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Senior Maharashtra minister had met Kasab: Home dept

Mumbai, July 21 (PTI) A senior minister in the State
Government of India's western state Maharashtra, had met
Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab earlier this year, Home
Department sources said here Tuesday.

"The minister met Kasab after instructing senior police
officials not to reveal his identity," the sources said.

"The minister told Kasab it was no use carrying on the
facade of innocence," they said.


The minister, who was on a visit to inspect the lodging
arrangements of the lone surviving terrorist of the 26/11
Mumbai attacks, at the Anda Cell of the Arthur Road jail, had
told Kasab, "Your nation (Pakistan) has disowned you and your
family."

"Kasab was shocked to hear that," the sources said,
adding that the minister also told him that Pakistani
authorities had shifted his parents to an undisclosed
location.

"Pakistan cannot do such a thing," was Kasab's reply
to the minister, the sources added. PTI SSG
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Case registered Continental Airlines staff for Kalam frisking

New Delhi, July (PTI) Police in India's national
capital Tuesday registered a case against the "concerned
staff" of Continental Airlines for frisking former Indian
President A P J Abdul Kalam at the IGI airport here in breach
of protocol.

The case was registered after the Bureau of Civil
Aviation Security (BCAS) approached the police against the
staff of the American airliner for carrying out pre-
embarkation body check of Kalam, which is in gross violation
of a BCAS circular which exempts specified VVIPs/VIPs from
security checks.

"The BCAS has registered an FIR with the SHO, IGI
Airport Police Station, against all the concerned staff of the
Continental Airlines under Section 11A of Aircraft Act, 1934
for willful violation of the directions issued by BCAS," an
official statement said.

The Civil Aviation Ministry earlier in the day
directed the BCAS to conduct an inquiry into reports about
Kalam being frisked by the airline staff on April 21 before he
was to board a Newark-bound flight.

"As per the FIR, on April 21, Kalam was traveling by
Continental Airlines Flight No.CO-083 from IGI Airport to New
York. As he proceeded towards the aircraft, the staff of the
Continental Airlines carried out frisking of Kalam in
contravention of the BCAS rule even as CISF personnel pointed
out that he was exempt from such checks," it said.


Earlier reports had said that Kalam was frisked at
the airport on April 24.

An inquiry was ordered into the matter which
established that the staff had wrongfully, under the direction
of their security-in-charge, country director and station
manager, carried out pre-embarkation body check of Kalam.

A show-cause notice was issued on July 9 to the
Station Manager of Continental Airline asking why action
should not be taken against them under Section 11A of Aircraft
Act, 1934, and were given seven days to respond.
According to the statement, "no reply has been
received till date. The BCAS has thus registered an FIR with
the SHO, IGI Airport Police Station, against all the concerned
staff of the Continental Airlines under section 11A of
Aircraft Act, 1934 for willful violation of the directions
issued by BCAS." PTI SMJ
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Congress refrains from commenting on Indo-Pak joint statement

New Delhi, July 21 (PTI) The Congress Tuesday
refrained from commenting on the Indo-Pak joint statement and
Indo-US end user defence pact amid reports of unease in the
party, saying it wants the Indian Government to play the full
course without looking over its shoulders.

Party spokesman Manish Tewari adopted a guarded
approach to questions relating to references in the
controversial Indo-Pak joint statement on delinking of
terrorism from the composite dialogue and Balochistan.

Government is in the best position to answer questions
that are being raised, he said amid reports that a section of
the party is having reservations over the references.

"Congress has nothing to say on it", he said
contending "these are issues that lie squarely within the
government domain. These issues have technical undertones,
which the government is in the best position to answer and the
government is not shying away from replying."

"It is not essential for political parties to address
it," he added when asked to specify the Congress stand on the
issues.

The delink issue agreed to by Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in
Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt) is being seen as a climbdown though
Government has refuted it.

The End User Monitoring pact reached by India and the
US Monday has also come in for criticism from the Opposition
which said by agreeing to allow US inspection of military
installations, Government has "compromised" national
sovereignty, a charge vehemently denied.

To a question whether Congress supports the joint
statement, Tewari said, "it is self speaking" but declined to
elaborate.

Asked for his comments on the Indo-US pact, he said,"
I have not seen it" but promised to respond when it comes out
in public.

A senior Congress functionary on condition of
anonymity said, "the party's silence is not indicative of
non-endorsement. Silence is only to allow the government to
play out the full course which it has embarked upon."

Asked why Congress is not backing the government
openly over these issues as it did during the Indo-US nuclear
deal, he said," it's not a question of backing or non-backing.
The party does not want government to look over its shoulder
all the time."

The functionary also sought to recall that during the
initial phases of Indo-US nuclear deal, the party had
maintained a distance but "stepped in only when the opposition
made the issue a political football".

To a query whether the decisions were taken by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh without the party's agreement, he
said," the PM is not a distinct identity from the party."

"Country to country relation is something that is in
government's domain," the functionary said adding,"the party
will step in when it feels it should but why to go on an
overdrive."

The party leader also dismissed suggestions that
Congress workers have any doubts over these decisions of the
government and said," there is no doubt in our workers' mind.
The doubts exist in the mind of those who are left with no
other issue."

To a question whether the government took the party
into confidence over the twin decisions, the leader remarked,"
there is no command performance which the government is
expected to do. It is a government of the party."

On whether there would be a meeting of Congress
Working Committee (CWC) to discuss the Indo-Pak Joint
statement, the leader said,"at this moment there is nothing on
card."

Attacking BJP, Tewari said, "it (BJP) has not learnt
from its past experience and is repeating the same mistakes
which the party committed during the 14th Lok Sabha.

"The BJP used to make similar charges of surrendering
sovereignty between 2004 and 2009...if it does not learn, no
body can help the party including Lord Rama, whom they keep on
dragging in everything," he said. PTI AMR
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