| External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to meet Bush in Washington during his visit beginning March 23. |
| According to sources, the meeting might take place on March 24 at White House after Mukherjee meets US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice the same day. |
| "We are expecting to meet an aggressive US administration in Washington. Obviously, they are interested in sealing the deal as soon as possible. But they need to understand the political situation of the country. There is a coalition government at the Centre running with the support of the Left. We can't ignore our supporters and do anything hastily," said a government source. |
| Mukherjee is likely to convey to the US that the government has not given up but is trying for a political consensus, which may take time, say sources. |
| The Left, meanwhile, is not in a mood to relent. "We want the government to clearly state to the US the political situation in India. It should inform Rice that the majority of Parliament is against the deal and the Left-UPA committee is looking into the matter. There can't be any deadline in this case and the government is bound to discuss the matter with the Left in this committee," CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury told Business Standard. |
| "We would like Mukherjee to clarify to Rice what exactly she means by her recent statements. She has said that the deal is bound by the Hyde Act whereas the UPA government maintains that the Act has no bearing on the agreement. Mukherjee should sort out this matter and clarify the government's stand that it doesn't consider the Hyde Act as having an overriding power over the deal," he said. |
| CPI(M) General secretary Prakash Karat and veteran CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu today discussed the deal in Kolkata ahead of the party congress at the end of the month in Coimbatore. Neither leader commented on the talks. |
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