The deal is “done”, whether the UPA survives the trust vote or not, the government believes.

A highly placed official said the safeguards agreement, to be put before nuclear watchdog IAEA’s board of governors at a special August 1 meeting, would stay on course, unaffected by politics back home.

“The (nuclear) deal will happen because the government is clear that it is in the supreme national interest. If the government has to go in the process, let it go,” the source said.

“The deal will happen because the G8 resolution has backed it and even (Democrat presidential designate) Barack Obama has supported it. It is not conditional on which government exists in India and which one comes in the US.”

The source made it clear that once the safeguards process was over, things wouldn’t be in India’s hands any more. “The only thing we could dictate was to speed up things at the IAEA. The rest is for the Americans to do.”

Earlier, sections of the government and a Congress spokesperson had hinted that if the government lost majority, it could withdraw the IAEA agreement.

But the source today said Manmohan Singh was neither crunching numbers nor seeking daily briefings on the political sensex. “His bottom line is clear. He is not desperate to stay in power…. There will be no JMM kind of drama,” the source said, alluding to the 1999 case when MPs were bribed for their support.

“The government has the numbers,” the source added. “There has to be a convergence of interest and, if that happens, it will sail through.”

The source said that for Singh, a big milestone in the deal’s chequered journey was getting the support of the G8, which, after Pokhran 1998, had enforced sanctions on India.

In an interaction with journalists this morning, Singh said the IAEA agreement would end the “era of nuclear apartheid against India” and added that it would in no way “impinge on our strategic programme, which is entirely outside its purview”. India, he asserted, would “never allow any extraneous interference in the conduct” of its “independent foreign policy”.

The source said “there was no meeting of minds” between Singh and CPM chief Prakash Karat, who took a “rigid” ideological position. Singh was also upset with the BJP for allegedly recanting on an “understanding” that it would support the deal.

“At one point, the Prime Minister was given to understand that the BJP was willing to change its position if he personally called on (A.B.) Vajpayee and explained things. He met Vajpayee, (L.K.) Advani was also present. But Advani told him, ‘I cannot change because I will not be able to carry the party with me’.”

If the government survives the July 22 trust vote, sources said Singh’s priority would be to implement flagship social programmes. This, they said, would be his way of thanking his party for rallying behind him.

Courtesy: The Telegraph