Left reduces status quo period for N-deal from six to two months

The CPI (M) today urged the UPA government to put on hold all future deliberations over the Indo-US nuclear deal till November when the Winter Session of the Parliament would convene.

Kolkata, Oct 1 : The CPI (M) today urged the UPA government to put on hold all future deliberations over the Indo-US nuclear deal till November when the Winter Session of the Parliament would convene.

A month earlier, CPI (M) General Secretary, Prakash Karat, had warned the Centre of serious political retribution if the latter goes ahead with the nuclear deal, and had asked the Congress-led Government not to make any further progress with the deal for the next six months.

The Government "should not proceed further on the next steps with regard to the nuclear deal till it can be discussed in the Winter Session of the Parliament", a party resolution stated.

"Our Central Committee has reiterated the stand that we do not want the government to take the next step of negotiating a text for the safeguard agreement at the International Atomic Energy Agency. That's where the matter stands," Karat told reporters after the party's four-day long meeting that concluded here today.

Karat added that his party and the Government were making an attempt to 'grapple' with the row through a joint panel formed in August.

"All I'm saying is there is a difference, a serious difference. It was decided a committee would be set-up to decide and resolve the matter. But I have to work within the framework set by my party's Central Committee, which is, this will be possible if the government does not proceed further to the next step. That's all," he said.

The climb down in Karat's opposition to the nuclear deal comes from the opinion expressed by the West Bengal unit of the Left party led by the State Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, which tried to impress the 'hardliners' in their party with their moderate views.

Bhattacharjee has gone on record that clean and efficient nuclear energy is very important for country's needs and had also said that he would not oppose the US blindly.

External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, who is the convenor of the joint UPA-Left committee and is presently in New York, had been in touch with the Left leaders on phone.

Mukherjee reportedly tried to convince the Left leaders and tried to assuage the latter's concerns.

That high-level panel is due to meet on October 5 and possibly on October 14.

ANI