After meeting CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat on Monday, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had another round of informal meeting with him tonight. "Nobody knows what will happen. It's a difficult situation," Mukherjee said after the meeting. A top UPA leader said not much headway was achieved during today's talks.
In yesterday's meeting, Karat had conveyed to Mukherjee that if the government came up with some "new suggestions" in the UPA-Left meeting on Wednesday, the Left could consider them. Observers said today's meeting could have been held with a view to utilising this window of opportunity.
However, a section of the Congress, keen to sign the agreement with the current IAEA regime, finds this latest Left move as yet another delaying tactic. The Left wants the government to go to IAEA only after August when the present George Bush administration in the US will not remain functional.
The CPI(M) has rejected all arguments of the government so far to sign the IAEA safeguards agreement. The party has firmly told Mukherjee that it believes once the IAEA phase is over, the deal will be on an