NEW DELHI, 10 October 2007 — Despite the 13-day reprieve its government got from the left, the ruling Congress party yesterday plunged into deeper dilemma with the communists telling it bluntly to take a “political decision” on the India-US civil nuclear deal.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government received a temporary reprieve with its left allies agreeing to continue discussions over the deal on Oct. 22, apparently after being assured that there would be no formal talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) before their next meeting.
With the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the left front sticking to their respective stands on the controversial deal, their meeting ended on an inconclusive note. All 15 members of the committee participated in the meeting, which was held in the office of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, chairman of the committee.
Although the government suggested a compromise formula to go ahead with the informal talks on India specific safeguards for the operationalization of the nuclear deal, the left leaders rejected it sternly.
According to left sources, the government was told to take a political decision on whether it wants to go ahead with the 123 agreement or continue in power.
“We have asked the government to put the nuclear deal on the backburner. If the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) could keep Ayodhya and Article 370 (that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir) out of the agenda for their coalition, why cannot the Congress delay the deal?” Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury told reporters.
After the two-and-a-half-hour long UPA-left nuclear committee meeting, the four left leaders held another meeting at the CPI-M headquarters here to discuss the details of the morning meeting. “We want the Congress to state in no uncertain terms that it is ready to delay the deal,” said a left leader, who attended the meeting.
The left’s demand appears to have put the Congress in confusion as many allies like Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar are of the view that the nuclear agreement should not be an issue on which the UPA should go for a snap poll.
“The party is in a fix. We have gone too far, and cannot make a comeback now on the nuclear deal nor can we be seen as succumbing to the pressures of our allies. At the same time, we agree with our allies that it is not an issue on which to seek a mandate,” admitted a senior Congress leader, who did not want to be named.
The sources said the government reiterated its plea for allowing it to hold informal talks with the IAEA to prepare an “informal draft” on a safeguards protocol to submit before the IAEA board of governors. However, the communists rejected the plea.
Earlier, during the UPA-left meeting, the government is believed to have agreed that there would not be any formal talks on the India specific safeguards before discussions with the communists over the deal were over.
“It was the agreement between the Congress and the left. The committee was formed with an agreement that the operationalization of the deal would take its findings into consideration,” the left leader pointed out.
“We do not think any formal negotiations will begin (with IAEA) before this committee comes out with its findings,” Communist Party of India (CPI) General Secretary A.B. Bardhan told reporters. “Our talks are continuing. I don’t think anything will be operationalized,” he added.
Mukherjee said after the meeting that the members “shared in detail their perceptions on various aspects of the cooperation agreement between India and the US.”
“Discussions were also initiated on the implications of the nuclear agreement, on foreign policy and security cooperation,” he said.
The committee’s decision to meet again comes amid intensive speculation that the differences between the two groups would result in a midterm poll.
But Lalu Prasad dismissed the possibility of immediate elections. “The government is not falling. There will be no snap poll,” he told reporters as he came out of the meeting.
Leaders from both sides, however, said early elections had become a certainty. “It’s only a matter of time,” a senior communist leader told IANS after the meeting.
Congress sources also indicated that the government could not hold back the IAEA negotiations for long, as there was a timeframe for the operationalization of the deal.
CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat, who on Monday rejected the government’s plea to go ahead with the IAEA talks, looked more relaxed while going into the meeting. He said he was positive and hoped that more meetings would follow.
Mukherjee’s plea to the left came ahead of IAEA chief Mohamed El-Baradei’s visit to the capital today, during which he is expected to hold informal talks with the government on the nuclear deal.
The CPI-M-led left, which extends crucial legislative support to the Manmohan Singh government, has been opposing the deal saying that it would make India a junior partner to the US in strategic and foreign affairs.
