Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh hit out at the Narendra Modi-led Union government over the passage of the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, asserting that it was “bulldozed” through Parliament to “restore SHANTI” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his “once good friend,” without directly naming US President Donald Trump.
In a post X, Ramesh’s criticism came in the wake of US President Donald Trump recently signing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which explicitly mentions joint India–US assessments of nuclear liability rules.
“The Act is 3100 pages long. Page 1912 has a reference to the joint assessment between the United States and India on Nuclear Liability Rules,” Congress leader wrote.
Earlier, Parliament on Thursday passed the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025 (SHANTI Bill). The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha a day after it got approval in the Lok Sabha.
The bill seeks to repeal the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010. Jitendra Singh said the new legislation is aligned to achieve the objectives of increasing the share of nuclear energy in the total energy mix of India, will facilitate innovation in atomic science and technology, expand its applications to non-power applications and continue to honour India’s obligations towards safety, security, safeguards and towards nuclear liability.
Further, the bill also seeks to leverage the contribution of domestic nuclear energy to augment the global nuclear energy ecosystem.
