Sir,

1. When it is universally and unanimously agreed that, whatever the merits or demerits of the Indo-US nuclear deal, it has far reaching and long term implication for our country; what is the reason for this undue haste with which your government is seeking to operationalize it ?

2. What is the reason for such an important deal being signed and operationalised without consultation with the people of India and the Indian Parliament?

3. What is the rationale for your new found enthusiasm about the merits of nuclear energy, glossing over the fact that the deal assures only about 7-9 percent of India energy needs, that too by 2020?

4.Is it your contention that a developing country like India can afford the high costs involved in the production of nuclear energy at the cost of what should be its developmental priorities?

5. When the Bush administration, already mired in disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is in a state of preparedness for another war, this time on Iran, are you not seriously endangering peoples' security globally, with a deal that will go from allowing US warships in India's territorial waters to unfettered use of Indian territory for US wars immediately now and in the future?

6. When US President Bush is an increasingly unpopular figure in the US and most of the world, are you not being naïve in hailing him as India's best friend?

7. Have you considered that by forging a legally binding and close strategic alliance with the US, which has declared war on Islam in the name of terror, you are also endangering the security of the Indian People, whose interest you should be representing?

8. Is it not true that you are isolating India from a majority of Asian countries by pushing the country into a NATO like alliance with the USA? Is it not a departure from India’s historical stand in favour of NAM?

9. Given India's historical policy position on global disarmament, is it your contention that it is moral, ethical and safe to manufacture nuclear weapons of mass destruction?

10. Are you not guilty of putting your personal prestige before the long term economic and security interests of the country?

Questions raised by:
Peace Mumbai (Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP), National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM), India Center for Human Rights and Law (ICHRL), Asia South Pacific Bureau for Adult Education (ASPBAE), Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA), Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), Bombay Urban Industrial League for Development (BUILD), Focus on the Global South, India, Vikas Adhyayan Kendra (VAK), Akshara, Documentation Research and Training Center (DRTC), Explorations, Institute For Community Organization and Research (ICOR), Movement for Peace and Justice (MPJ), Women’s Research and Action Group (WRAG), Action Aid, Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT) )