BJP to link N-deal approval to outsourcing

A Bharatiya Janata Party-led government will not implement the nuclear deal with the United States if the Obama administration withdraws tax incentives to companies outsourcing works, a senior party functionary said on Wednesday.

"We will tell the Americans very clearly that we will not implement the Indo-US nuclear deal, if this is the policy (removal of tax cuts for those outsourcing), you (will) follow with a friendly country like India," former finance and external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha told PTI in an interview.

He said the US cannot be using all its laws against India and expect it to go ahead and support them in everything.

Text: PTI

"Why should India buy nuclear reactors from them and create employment opportunities in the US? If it (US) wants to extinguish employment opportunities in India by these methods, why should we then generate employment for Americans by importing nuclear reactors from them?" said Sinha, whose party has said it will renegotiate the deal if it comes to power.

When asked if the BJP will rework the deal, Sinha said for the time being it should be made very clear to the United States that there will be no question of implementing the nuclear deal in the current scenario. He said the deal could be considered on the basis of reciprocity.

"The nuclear deal is held out as a great piece of the friendly relations India has with the US. You (the US) are looking at your own interest. So we will not care if you are a friendly country or a not-so-friendly one. That is what reciprocity means. Then we will consider," Sinha said.

In a decision that could harm outsourcing of jobs to India and other countries, US President Barack Obama had proposed removal of tax incentives to American companies shifting jobs abroad.

Sinha asked if India should take the US stand on outsourcing lying down. "Look at what (President) Obama is doing. First the H-1B visas and now the taxation proposal that they will not give tax benefits to companies which outsource jobs outside. This is directed at India and the formulation is Buffalo, and not Bangalore. Should India take it lying down?" Sinha said.

Hitting out at the loopholes in the country's corporate tax code, US President Obama had commented, "It's a tax code that says you should pay lower taxes if you create a job in Bangalore, India, than if you create one in Buffalo, New York."

The Indo-US nuclear deal had made the Left parties withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance government.