Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Prakash Karat today warned the Untied Progressive Alliance Government not to go ahead with the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, adding that the Left would withdraw its support if the government does not abide by it.
New Delhi, Sep 13 : Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Prakash Karat today warned the Untied Progressive Alliance Government not to go ahead with the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, adding that the Left would withdraw its support if the government does not abide by it.
"The question is why this insistence, why this determination, to go ahead despite the fact that the main parties on which this government depends for its majority says no. The NDA (National Democratic Alliance) says no, the UNPA (United National Progressive alliance), says no," said Karat.
He added that the Left parties would not help the government in concluding the agreement.
On September 11, the 15-member UPA-Left panel set up to review the Indo-US nuclear deal held its first meeting with the members outlining the agenda for the discussion.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is heading the panel, said that broad issues for the ongoing discussions were framed in today's meeting.
"The committee framed the issue following broad issues for discussion, implications of the Hyde Act on Indo-nuclear 123 Agreement and on the self-reliance in the nuclear sector, implications on foreign policy and security cooperation," Mukherjee said.
The committee will hold its next meeting on September 19.
All the members of the panel were present today that included, Union Cabinet Ministers, A K Antony, P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Saifuddin Soz, Prithviraj Chavan, Lalu Prasad, T R Baalu and Sharad Pawar from the UPA side and six Left leaders Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, A B Bardhan, D Raja, Debabrata Biswas and T J Chandrachoodan.
The panel was named after Left, which provides crucial support to the UPA Government, rejected the bilateral nuclear deal with the US, and warned the Government of serious consequences if it went ahead with operationalising the Agreement.
The Government had said that the agreement will be operationalised after taking into account the committee's findings.
ANI