N-deal: Today's UPA-Left meet may not be the last

Although it is almost certain now that tomorrow's meeting of the UPA-Left committee on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal will not be the last one, the fizz has gone out of the negotiations.

Though neither side is saying so, it is clear that the agreement has been put on hold for the foreseeable future, if not permanently.

In Bangalore, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the UPA-Left Committee was likely to come out with its findings on the deal after Diwali.

While conceding that the two groups might continue to meet even after October 22, he, however, said that consensus on the issue was not possible unless the Left parties' concerns were met.

Yechury suggested nothing might be lost by waiting to negotiate the deal until after the next US elections, due in November 2008.

However, the four Left parties would collectively gauge the response of the government to decide if there was any point in continuing talks.

A top CPI(M) leader told Business Standard: "If the government is keen to continue talking to us, we don't have a problem. But it all depends on what they (the UPA) have to say."

There is also a section in the UPA which wants the committee to continue as this mechanism is good for killing time and contain tension.

Tomorrow, the two sides will meet at 4 pm to discuss on the political note given to the UPA by the Left. However, the Left will seek a 'clarification' on the stance of the UPA on talks at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It will seek a clear answer on whether the UPA has discarded the deal or "pressed the pause button" on it.

The Left is also expecting a 'briefing' from the government on its talks with the IAEA chief, who was in India recently, and the US administration.

The PM, while touring Africa, had a telephonic conversation with US President George Bush, while Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee met US ambassador to India David Mulford to discuss the current status of the nuclear deal.

After the last meeting of this committee on October 9, many significant statements have been made from the ruling party. Both the PM and Sonia Gandhi hinted a climb-down on the deal at a Hindustan Times summit in New Delhi. However, missives were also flying in the air soon that the government had neither scrapped the deal nor put it on hold.

According to Left leaders, all this has been heard "through the media" and there was need for a proper clarification in the committee meeting. "The government should communicate its position officially to us," a top Left leader demanded.

CPI General Secretary AB Bardhan said recently: "We do not know what exactly the UPA representatives will tell us (on October 22). But what we expect is that they should clearly say that the deal is off or that it has been put on hold. Only then the controversy will end."

Discussions will also follow on the "political note" of the Left related to a wide range of issues of economy and foreign policy where it has serious differences with the government. The note charged that the government is following the line of the NDA regime and becoming a US supplicant. It deals with issues like Indo-US strategic partnership, the controversial Proliferation Security Initiative and economic issues under the common head of "the impact of 123 Agreement on domestic policy and national security".