Left note to raise anti-UPA pitch

This one is expected to raise political heat.

Continuing their combative stance, the Left parties will send a "political note" to the UPA government towards the end of the month.

The note, being prepared by CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat, has been dubbed by Left sources as "the real offensive".

The note will cover a wide range of issues related to economy and foreign policy where the Left has serious differences with the government. The note will try to make the point that the government is following the line of the NDA regime and becoming a US supplicant.

The discussions on the Hyde Act's implications on the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement have virtually ended as far as the two sides are concerned.

The UPA and the Left have exchanged a couple of notes each, with the the latest one reaching the Left parties on Monday. The government argued in both the notes that the Hyde Act would become ineffective once US Congress ratified the 123 Agreement.

In the next note, which is expected to raise the temperature of the next few discussions, the Left will attack the government's pro-US foreign policy.

It will deal with issues like Indo-US strategic partnership, the controversial Proliferation Security Initiative, economic issues and include a special chapter on "the impact of 123 Agreement on domestic policy."

"So far, we have discussed the legal aspects of the nuclear deal. Now, we will go into political and economic issues on a much larger canvas," said a Left source.

While the Left gets ready to inundate the UPA with the paper, the UPA has tried to take on its opponents by bringing up the "China factor."

In its previous note on the Hyde Act, the government added an annexure to point out how China had to keep in mind the US' interests in the 123 Agreement the two signed in 1985.

The note quotes a speech of Kenneth L Adelman, Director, US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency: "China will permit US teams to visit sites, equipment subject to this (US-China) Agreement." The note pointed out that "China can't reprocess fuel without US permission."