Tuesday, August 2 2005 12:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: In a scathing attack on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today (August 2, 2005) slammed the recently concluded Indo-United States (US) nuclear agreement saying it had many shortcomings and India was a 'loser' in the deal as Washington had not given anything.

Addressing the weekly BJP Parliamentary Party meeting here today (August 2, 2005), Chaired by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said the agreement was ambiguous and suffered from many shortcomings.

According to Parliamentary Party spokesman V K Malhotra, Singh said that US has not recognised India as a nuclear state as was being projected but only acknowledged India's nuclear capabilities.

Recalling that during his tenure Vajpayee had made efforts to improve ties with the United States in his talks with then President Bill Clinton, Singh said India stood to lose in the recent nuclear agreement while Washington has not given anything.

Earlier, Party President L K Advani asked the MPs to be 'watchful' as the Government might try to bring through the backdoor, the IMDT (Illegal Migrants Detection by Tribunals) Act, which the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional. He described the court decision as a victory for the party, Malhotra said.

He also expressed anguish over the recent developments in Bihar as also the blockade in Manipur and blamed the Centre for totally failing to control the situation.

Advani also informed the members about the activities being undertaken as part of BJP's silver jubilee celebrations.