Left to set time-frame for N-deal panel: Karat

The CPI(M) today said the Left would set a "time-frame" for the government to complete evaluation of concerns over the Indo-US nuclear civilian deal and implications of the Hyde Act after its meeting with the UPA on September 19.

"The real work (on studying the implications of nuclear agreement) is yet to start. We will discuss the identified issues in the next meeting and the time-frame can be decided then," CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat told reporters here.

He said the first round of the UPA-Left Committee meeting on September 11 had identified the agenda for discussions at the next meeting. "We hope that after the discussions, the situation will become clear about the implications of the deal over our foreign policy and security," he said.

He said the Left parties had asked the government not to proceed with operationalising the agreement till all the objections and implications of Hyde Act, the US legislation related to the deal, were properly evaluated. Asked whether he foresaw possibility of early polls, Karat said, "I cannot answer that question. I do not know."