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While a lot can be gained from the deal, critics assail that if the deal is signed India’s credibility will take a big hit. While abandoning the nuclear negotiations midway may cause embarrassment to the ruling coalition Government, scrapping the deal will lead India into technical isolation. China would become a dominant power in Asia and ensure Pakistan effectively keeps India fully deterred. A way out of the impasse is to be found. An experts body can be appointed to thrash out details of the agreement in the background of the Hyde Act and the US view of the non-applicability of certain provisions of the Act to the agreement.

T.S. Sundareswaran, New Delhi

The stand of the CPI(M) on India’s nuclear deal with US was a foregone conclusion. While the party wants to give the impression that its support is issue-based, it was quite obvious it would oppose any major deal connected with the US. .

K.V. Rao, Bangalore

The nuclear deal has taken into account the country’s energy needs and it does not compromise the country’s sovereignty. The Left seems to have decided to oppose anything American. The Government should go ahead with the deal to sustain the growth momentum. If the Government yields to the pressure of the Left, the image of the country will take a beating.

R. Thirumalai Muthu, Kallidaikurichi

Though the CPI(M)’s move appears to be a mere act of flexing the muscles, the Government has thankfully not yielded to the pressure.

The Left must remember that stopping a negotiation is no negotiation. The nuke deal will definitely open new doors for the Indian energy sector and all the parties involved must find a way to promote national interest.

Pulkit Soni, Indore

The honeymoon has to come to an end and it was surprising that the two parties managed to continue thus far.

Leaving the issues behind, the present stalemate once again goes to prove that it would be preferable to have a single party majority rule than an opportunistic coalition.

Krithivasan, e-mail

The Indo-US Civil Nuclear deal is one that India can do without, since it has serious repercussions for India when operationalised. Whether India should opt for nuclear weapons or not, it would be a dangerous situation if our freedom to conduct tests is denied, for reasons of deterrence or even defence. Although the External Affairs Minister has asserted that India is free to conduct tests, he has not spelt out the implications if we do so.

The US State Department spokesman has made it clear that the deal will be terminated in the event of India conducting tests and that India will have to return all the materials procured by it in terms of the deal. When thousands of crores of rupees are spent on projects utilising such materials, returning them would be disastrous.

Though India might profess to follow an independent foreign policy, the US would definitely look to us for support. If the support was not forthcoming it could have led to a situation culminating in the termination of the deal.

T. R. Anandan, Coimbatore

The nuclear deal will have significant impact on our economic, military, political and foreign policy. The Government should, therefore, get Parliament’s approval before going forward with the deal.

This is a highly sensitive agreement as it deals with our foreign policy and sovereignty. There should not be any ambiguity. The nuke deal should be put on hold under the present political situation and since there is no deadline.

First, all the objections, questions, apprehensions, reservations and the doubts should be clarified before going further with the deal. The onerous clauses in the Hyde Act and the 123 agreement should be looked into again. By accepting the US conditions, India should not mortgage its sovereignty. Restraining India from the full civil nuclear co-operation and the conditional agreement on nuclear test ban will affect our interests.

Naga Pradeep Avadhanam, Kurnool

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