This is the first time an Indian PM has talked about a predecessor to a leader of a foreign country. Internal Politics are not discussed on foreign soil with foreign leaders. The Prime Minister’s remarks are unfortunate and will create a negative image of the country.
But a storm broke out in Delhi over the Prime Minister’s reported confidence to Bush, that while he thought the Indo-US nuclear agreement would work well, he could not understand why the Opposition at home, specifically former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had opposed it, especially when Parliament was backing it.
The CPI, an ally of the United Progressive Alliance, criticised the Prime Minister for raising with the US the issue of differences among political parties on the nuclear agreement.
“Who said what or did not say in Parliament or outside it, on all these issues, why should the Prime Minister say anything (to President Bush),” CPI General Secretary AB Bardhan remarked.
“These are our matters. The entire decision has to be ours. We should not do anything at anyone’s behest. This has been the stand of the Left,” Bardhan said. “Neither does Bush have any right to ask us nor do we need to give him any clarification,” the CPI leader said.