NEW DELHI, 13 October 2007 — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said yesterday he would not force through a controversial Indo-US nuclear deal if it meant his government’s downfall.

The Left parties have repeatedly threatened to withdraw support for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) if it pushes ahead with the landmark pact. Manmohan said he hoped “reason and common sense” would ultimately prevail over the Indo-US agreement, which he described as “an honorable deal that is good for India and good for the world.”

But Manmohan, who personally oversaw two years of talks that led to the pact, indicated he was not prepared to sacrifice his government over it. “If the deal does not come through, that is not the end of life,” Singh said. “It will be a disappointment. In life, one has to live with some disappointments.” Manmohan and Congress President Sonia Gandhi laid it out clearly yesterday that they were ready to put the Indo-US nuclear deal on hold to complete the full term of UPA in power. Expressing that his government was not a “one-issue” government and ruling out the possibility of midterm polls, Manmohan said: “Elections are still far away. The government has still one-and-a-half years to complete its term. I hope and expect we will stay the course.”

The signal given by Manmohan yesterday suggests that the political crisis over the deal with the left has been taken care for now. Manmohan made these comments while answering questions at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. In defense of the nuclear agreement, Manmohan said: “We are in the realm of politics, where there are differences of perception. We are trying to reconcile the divergent points of view. I have not given up hope that reason and common sense will ultimately will win the day.”

Meanwhile, UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed El-Baradei yesterday batted vigorously for the India-US nuclear deal, saying it will give New Delhi “independence” to make full use of nuclear energy and stressed that although safeguards pact with the IAEA will not be difficult, “the sooner India does it will be better for its interests.”

Making a strong pitch for the deal, El-Baradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stressed the deal will end India’s nuclear isolation and put it at the center of global efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons. “India should be liberated from restrictions by 45 countries of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). The nuclear deal will trigger off a lifting of restrictions by the NSG,” he said.

“Independence means freedom of choice and freedom to use state-of-the-art technologies,” he said in response to a question on whether the deal compromised India’s sovereignty. “India has always pursued an independent foreign policy. I don’t think it will change,” he added.

“India should not be an outsider, but a full partner in peaceful uses of nuclear energy as well as in our efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons,” El-Baradei said in response to a question after his speech at a conclave organized by the Hindustan Times here. Categorically ruling out early elections for the sake of the deal, during an interaction at the summit, Sonia said: “No, we are not in favor of early elections. As the prime minister has said the deadline is 2009. We are going to do all that we can to see that we implement our programs till 2009.”

The government would be working to bring about a consensus with the left on the nuclear deal, Sonia said. Regarding the options being considered by the government, she said: “Well, let us see because we are still in the process of talking to them (the left).” Ruling out confrontation with the left, she said: “The dharma (religion) of coalition is to work together, try and understand and accommodate each other’s view.”

Rejecting the view that she had attacked the left in her speech in Jhajjar (Haryana) on Sunday, Sonia said that her reference had been to the opposition in that state. Disagreeing with a question on left being unreasonable regarding the deal, Sonia said: “No, I don’t think they are being unreasonable. We have to understand the left. They have certain ideology, they have some views. They are merely stating their views. Naturally, we are working together. We have to understand their views and we have to take note of what they say.”

On the UPA being viewed as a one-issue government, Sonia said: “I regret it is being perceived like this. It is not true, there are a number of issues on which we are focused.” Welcoming the prime minister’s remarks on the deal, senior Communist Party of India (CPI) leader A.B. Bardhan said that they were indicative of a “sober approach.” Reiterating the need of putting the nuclear deal in its proper perspective, Bardhan termed the new development as a “return to sobriety.”

Sonia also said she was “absolutely satisfied” with the working of the government and that she had no regrets over not becoming the prime minister. Asked to rate the record of Congress-led government, she said: “I am absolutely satisfied with the work done by the government.”