| Nuke deal: UPA-Left to meet again on Oct 22 |
| BS Reporter / New Delhi October 9, 2007 |
| In a move clearly aimed at buying time, the UPA and its ally, the Left parties, today decided to meet again on October 22 to discuss differences on the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement. The government also assured the Left that there would be no forward movement on the IAEA safeguards agreement till the next meeting of the committee. The meeting was earlier scheduled for October 16. This is a clear signal that the process of discussions will be prolonged. Both sides were pessimistic on the prospects of a solution as they stuck to their old stands. The mood of the meeting was clear when Finance Minister P Chidambaram started explaining some legal points of the Hyde Act to the Left leaders in today's meeting. Even before he could complete, Left leaders told him to stop. "What is the point is discussing these things when we have decided to oppose the deal?" asked a Left leader. When the government today reiterated that it will not start official negotiations with IAEA as long as the committee continues, it, too, came with a rider. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee offered this concession but asked the Left leaders not to spread this news in public. CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat and CPI general Secretary A B Bardhan accepted the offer but added, |
