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| India PM rejects resignation call |
| Indian PM Manmohan Singh has rejected calls from the main opposition party to resign after his government appeared to have shelved a nuclear deal
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| INDIA
, 19-October-2007
3:5:15 AM |
| Mr Singh said he had not "given up hope" on the controversial deal that has been stiffly opposed by the government's communist allies.
Mr Singh told US President George W Bush recently that he was having difficulty implementing the deal.
It was the first clear sign India may shelve the deal.
Differences between the Congress-led government and its allies over the deal has led to talk of early elections.
The Congress Party's communist allies say the deal, which would allow India access to civilian nuclear technology and fuel, gives the US leverage on India's foreign policy
Mr Singh told reporters that the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has been demanding his resignation had no "right" to make such a demand.
"The BJP is least qualified to talk about our moral right to govern [since it was in power when the] holocaust in Gujarat took place," he was quoted as telling Indian newspapers.
'Way out'
Mr Singh was alluding to the communal rioting in western Gujarat state in 2002 in which more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, lost their lives.
Mr Singh also said he was still hopeful about the nuclear deal.
"I have maintained there are some difficulties. We are a coalition. We have to find a way out. I have not given up hope yet," he said.
After many weeks during which the government insisted it would press ahead with the deal, Mr Singh's conversation with Mr Bush on Monday pointed to the government backtracking in the face of opposition.
But, on Thursday, Mr Singh told reporters on the sidelines of an official trip of Africa: "The process of evolving a meaningful consensus [on the nuclear deal] is still on."
The Congress Party and its allies are meeting again on Monday to discuss the deal.
Mr Singh called Mr Bush on Monday and told him that "certain difficulties have arisen with respect to the operationalisation of the India-US civil nuclear co-operation agreement".
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