The Left parties on Tuesday appeared to have persuaded government from going ahead with any negotiations with the IAEA on the nuclear deal.
NEW DELHI: The Left parties on Tuesday appeared to have persuaded government from going ahead with any negotiations with the IAEA on the nuclear deal for the time being during a meeting they had with UPA leaders.
"We don't think any formal negotiations will begin (with IAEA) before this Committee comes out with its findings," CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan said after an over two-hour-long meeting of the UPA-Left Committee on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
"Our talks are continuing. I don't think anything will be operationalised," the veteran communist leader said a day after Left parties made it clear to UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi that the government cannot initiate negotiations with the IAEA before the committee to go into their concerns on the deal came out with its findings.
However, there was no formal word from the government side on this issue, though RJD chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad exuded confidence and said "the government is not falling. There will be no snap poll."
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who chaired the meeting of the 15-member Committee, said the panel would continue discussions on October 22.
"The members shared in detail their perceptions on various aspects of the cooperation agreement between India and the US. Discussions were also initiated on the implications of the nuclear agreement on foreign policy and security cooperation," he said reading out a prepared statement.
The meeting was held in the backdrop of strong and divergent views expressed by both UPA and Left parties on the issue that fuelled speculation about mid-term polls.
The outside supporters have been insisting that the government should not go ahead with formal negotiations on India-specific safeguards with the IAEA till this panel completed its work.
Mukherjee said all participants of the 15-member panel took part in the meeting which was held in a "cordial atmosphere".
Asked whether government would begin formal talks with IAEA, CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said "nothing till October 22".
To a question whether the crisis was over, Bardhan said "where is the crisis. We are meeting again on (October) 22nd."
Almost all members of the committee came out smiling and held each other's hands to pose for photographers in a symbolic show of unity.
Union Ministers A K Antony, P Chidambaram, Sharad Pawar, T R Baalu, Kapil Sibal, CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat, CPI's D Raja, Debabrata Biswas and T J Chandrachoodan of the Forward Bloc and RSP were among those who attended the meeting.
Both sides have exchanged notes on the nuclear deal and various allied subjects, detailing their views on them.
The meeting came in the backdrop of widening of rift between the UPA and the Left parties rejecting a plea of the government that it be allowed to engage in negotiations with the IAEA.
In their note, the four parties supporting the Congress-led coalition from outside have asked the government whether it can assure that India's foreign and security policies would not be compromised with the global American interests due to the Indo-US defence and nuclear agreements.
The government has sent its reply to the Left note.
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