Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Prakash Karat today met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee ahead of the UPA-Left coordination committee meeting over the Indo-US nuclear deal this evening.
New Delhi, June 25 : Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Prakash Karat today met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee ahead of the UPA-Left coordination committee meeting over the Indo-US nuclear deal this evening.
The meeting took place at Mukherjee's residence to try and iron out differences on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
Karat met Mukherjee ahead of the UPA-Left coordination committee, which is being held to break the deadlock after the June16 meeting was postponed.Left has maintained its obstinate stand against Indo-US nuclear deal.
General Secretary of Forward Bloc and Parliamentarian, Devbrat Biswas on Tuesday said that they were looking forward to the Central Government opinion on the deal.
"Till now, there has been no middle path regarding 123 agreement with America. We are firm on principles of our Left parties. This government cannot move forward with our support. We will see that what option does government gives us. But, we are still stiff to our principles," said Biswas.
Communist Party of India (CPI) General Secretary A B Bardhan has warned that the signing of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal will lead to the fall of the UPA Government, prompting immediate elections.
He also said the Left parties will never compromise on their stand to oppose a military and strategic partnership with the United States.
As a part of implementation of the Indo-US nuclear deal, India had concluded negotiations with IAEA on what the Safeguards Agreement would contain in February, but it could not be signed because of stiff opposition from the Left.
The Left has been opposing the deal on the grounds that the conditions laid down by the Hyde Act, a domestic US legislation, would impinge on India pursuing an independent foreign policy and make it "subservient" to US strategic interests worldwide.
The Left has objected to the 123 Agreement between the India and the US on civilian nuclear cooperation on the grounds that the Hyde Act binds it.
This latest development comes in the wake of the efforts of the UPA, which tried to break the deadlock on the Indo-US nuclear deal between the Government and the Left through dialogue on June 23.
ANI