Agencies
New Delhi, Mar 6:
As government raised the pitch on the Indo-US nuclear deal in the face of Washington's insistence on a May deadline, the Left allies have also stepped up pressure by seeking an immediate meeting of UPA-Left Committee on the issue by March 15.
CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat has written to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, government's key interlocutor with the allies on the deal, asking for immediate convening of a meeting of the UPA-Left Committee on the nuclear deal by mid-March.
CPI leader D Raja, a member of the Committee, met Karat on Thursday morning and discussed the strategy on getting from the government its position on whether it wants to go ahead with the deal despite Left's opposition to it.
Sources said Karat's letter comes against the backdrop of reports that the text of the draft India-specific Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA is more or less ready and the Left parties would like to have a discussion on that. The Left missive also assumes significance in the context of the American deadline of May for the 123 agreement to be sent to the US Congress.
It is necessary for the government to complete the IAEA agreement by March end so that they can proceed to the Nuclear Suppliers Group for getting a waiver to do nuclear commerce with other countries.
"The Americans have set a deadline for the government. The Left parties will also have to set a deadline for the government. The next meeting of the UPA-Left Committee will be crucial," said a senior Left leader.
The Left sees urgency on the issue after a spate of statements from the government expressing its virtual determination to go ahead with the deal.
They cite the reference in the President's Address to Joint Sitting of Parliament, the External Affairs Minister's statement on the issue and the Prime Minister's remarks on Wednesday in Parliament making it clear that it was keen on having the "broadest possible consensus" on the deal.
They also see in his remarks praising former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as 'Bhishma Pitamaha' and urging him to rise above narrow political interests to support the deal as attempts to divide the BJP on the issue.
Congress slams Left for deadlock
Kochi: Criticising the Communist parties for their
stand on the Indo-US nuke deal, senior Congress leader and
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday said they
were opposing every step the UPA government was taking to
develop the country.
"Those who say they are fighting communal forces are trying to bring down the UPA government. We cannot understand the ideology of the Communists. They are not the nationalists we thought they were," she said addressing women Congress workers in Kerala.
Maintaining that the Congress has built the nation 'brick by brick', she said it was a shame to note that some partners of the ruling UPA do not see India in the same perspective as the Congress does. "Why don't they want India to prosper, do well and sign the nuke deal?," she asked.
Dikshit alleged the Left parties owe allegiance to countries outside India and not India. "Why do they oppose it for India and not for their supposed friends -- China and Russia? she asked adding "they do something, mean something else and say a third thing".
On the Nandigram issue, she said in West Bengal, there have been riots when poor farmers had not been given their rightful compensation for their land.
She alleged the Left parties had one set of parameters for their government in West Bengal, another for the country and yet another for the UPA government, she said.
Dikshit said Congress President Sonia Gandhi has given development a 'human face'. Farmers and women of India have all got relief in the budget. "Thanks to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, India's growth rate has touched nine per cent," she said
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