When the Prime Minister of India commits himself to something publicly, the nation expects him to abide by it. Let us therefore see how Dr Manmohan Singh has fared on the principle of ‘prime ministerial accountability’.
Speaking about the Indo-US nuclear deal in the Lok Sabha on July 29, 2005, the PM had said: “We shall undertake the same responsibilities and obligations as the United States. We expect the same rights and benefits as the US...India will never accept discrimination.” This assurance stands flouted in the draft safeguards agreement between India and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The draft does not recognise India as a Nuclear Weapons State on par with, and having the same rights and obligations as, the USA, Russia, Britain, France and China. In other words, India, with its strategic autonomy compromised, would have an inferior status in the global nuclear order in perpetuity.
