Joining the Left parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalithaa has criticised the India-United States civilian nuclear deal.

The deal was recently passed by the US Congress and is awaiting President George W Bush's [Images] signature.

In a statement released on Friday, Jayalalithaa said the deal impinges India's sovereignty.

Dubbing the July 18 and March 2 agreements signed by Bush and Dr Singh as 'a bolt out of the blue', Jayalaithaa said that despite the scientists, opposition parties and Left parties raising serious objections to the various clauses of the deal, the government hasn't heeded them.

She said that in recent times, there is a feeling being generated among the developed countries that no other country should possess nuclear weapons and also that no major research should be undertaken in this field.

'Many countries have refused to take cognisance of these compulsions and are exercising their own options with regard to research in the nuclear field. 

"North Korea has gone one step further and has embarked on nuclear testing.  Iran is very clear in its policy that no foreign country has any right to interfere in this matter and has openly given vent to it,' Jayalalithaa said.

Claiming that there is no dearth of raw materials in India, she said nuclear scientists met the prime minister and made a direct appeal to him not to take any precipitate decision relating to the field of atomic power. 

'Despite this, the government continues to further the cause of the Indo-US nuclear deal,' she said.

Comparing the legislative process in India and the US, she said both the Houses of Congress discussed the pros and cons of the deal. 

'They also have the right to make any changes in the agreement. But such a provision is not there in the Constitution of India. That is, even if India's rulers have concluded a secret deal with a foreign power, apart from the concerned officials and ministers, nobody in Parliament can take up for discussion any matter pertaining to the deal.

'Also, India's rulers do not place before Parliament for discussion any treaty to be concluded with a foreign country,' she said, demanding that a constitutional amendment to rectify this shortcoming.

Charging that the deal is of no use to India, Jayalalithaa said, 'The moment this Indo-US nuclear deal comes into effect, all information concerning India's atomic plants, their research data, particulars of operations, production and their functioning and the waste from the atomic plants, will be in the hands of the US.

'So far India has been maintaining complete secrecy about how nuclear waste is utilised.  No longer can there be any secrecy about this. This deal has been formulated to prevent India from become a Nuclear Weapons State.'

She said that according to the clauses of the deal, American scientists and even their army chiefs will have the right to visit India's atomic plants and make sudden inspections.