Air still not clear over nuclear deal; discussion shifts to next round

The eighth round of discussion between UPA and Left committee on nuclear deal remained inconclusive and shifted for another round of discussion to be held on May 28. But before that the Left would clear its stand after discussing their strategy on May 23.

Some objections raised by the Left in the last round of discussion were sorted out but the Party sought further clarifications on the safeguard agreement.

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The Left leader said after concluding of the meeting before seeking clarifications that it would not be possible for them to give their response.

The External Affairs Minister and the convener of the committee Pranab Mukherjee during their reading brief statement said, “In-depth discussions were held on the India-specific Safeguards Agreement between India and the IAEA. The Left parties have sought clarifications which will be provided in the next few days. Further discussions will be held in the next meeting of the Committee to be held on May 28, 2008.

It was being expected that the meeting of the IAEA governing body on the India specific safeguard agreement would take place any time in Mid-May. The finalisation of the draft agreement had paved the way to Nuclear Supplier Group's (NSG) meeting to be held in Johannesburg on May 19. The plan seems to be cancelled as the UPA-Left committee have decided to meet next on May 28.

Though the Congress still hoping the deal with the US will be finalise but some of the government interlocutors have different view regarding the deal, which says the deal is heading for the cold storage. However, Mukherjee too admitted that dispute over the deal already threatened the time line for the operationalisation of the 123 Agreement. The government is in haste for seeking way from the Left in the wake of the deadline imposed by the US election calendar putting pressure over the New Delhi.

The External Affairs Minister apprehended that since the nuclear deal was in nascent age followed by the two hurdles to be cleared before it heads to the US Congress, which is already heading towards the President poll, it would not be possible for the Bush administration to conclude the deal. The 123 Agreement will have to be eventually shelved as the new government in the US will likely to see the agreement with a fresh approach, he said.

So the internal sources say that the Indo-US nuclear pact may ultimately have been considered dead. The government has told the Left allies that it would not be possible for the Bush administration, too, to mark the final seal on the deal during the seven months term left for it.

The government interlocutors tried their best to convince the Left on the four points that it raised in the last meeting. They said the four points of objections such as uninterrupted fuel supply, transfer of technology, reciprocity, and implications of the controversial Hyde Act for India's independent foreign policy and sovereignty has been addressed. The Left in return said that it would need more time to discuss over the matter and asked the government to elaborate more on the text of the draft agreement. The Left party said certain clauses also need more clarifications which we had asked for.

Though the text of the negotiations of the government with the Left was not available, however, a Left leader hinted outlines of the discussions regarding application, cooperation, and termination of the agreement.

The Congress led UPA government has been trying to convince the Left on the nuclear deal, which the latter has been opposing since July 2005 when it was signed.

Without approval from the Left to move ahead on the nuclear deal the government can not hope to go forward in the direction as it has repeatedly been saying that a minority government couldn’t and should not sign the nuclear deal.