Left wants govt to say IAEA talks on hold

In a bid to embarrass the UPA, the Left parties demanded that the government publicly announce talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been stalled.

The government, on its part, has already conveyed privately to Left leaders that no sideline-negotiations will take place in Vienna next month when the Atomic Energy Council chief Anil Kakodkar attends the agency's annual meet.

After an hour-long meeting of four Left parties, Forward Bloc leader Debabrat Biswas told the media: "When the government makes announcements regarding its mechanism to address our concerns, it should also make it clear that the IAEA talks have been stalled. The two announcements should be made simultaneously."

CPI general secretary A B Bardhan too made it clear that they want the government to openly state its stand on the IAEA talks. "This is not a private affair. The country should know what the government is thinking. If they fail to state their stand, we will not join the mechanism."

Government sources say Kakodkar's visit was never related to the nuclear deal but only to participate in the annual general conference of the IAEA. However, India is scheduled to put its case formally to IAEA in November.

A CPI(M) Politburo leader told Business Standard: "Everything seems ok till September as the government has assured us that Kakodkar will not hold sideline talks on the nuclear deal. But what will happen in November is still unclear."