The Left parties have informed about their objections on certain issues relating to the Indo-US nuclear deal to the UPA government.
NEW DELHI: The Left parties have informed about their objections on certain issues relating to the Indo-US nuclear deal to the UPA government, which would brief the outside supporters on Tuesday on the deliberations at the IAEA over an India-specific safeguards agreement.
Ahead of the eighth meeting of the UPA-Left Committee on the nuclear deal tomorrow, the ruling coalition has briefed the Left leadership on "some major issues" relating to the safeguards agreement which were discussed at the IAEA.
The Left parties have reverted back with their opinions and objections, senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said here.
"At this stage, we don't formally know whether any text (of a safeguards agreement) has been finalised. If yes, then we would want to know whether there is anything in the content of this text which can resolve our concerns."
He hastened to add that the Left leadership understood that unless finalised, any text of an agreement between a government and an international body cannot be made public.
Maintaining that 123 agreement was "anchored in the Hyde Act", Yechury said operationalisation of this deal with the US "should not proceed till the Committee finds that all objections (of the Left) have been addressed and settled."
Without taking into account the Committee's final views, the government cannot take the next step, he said referring to a decision of the UPA-Left panel to this effect.
At Tuesday's meeting, the UPA and the Left are slated to discuss the state of government's negotiations with the IAEA on safeguards agreement needed to implement the nuclear deal or the 123 agreement.
"We will consider what the government will report to us on its talks with the IAEA. On that basis, we will take the issue forward," Yechury said in reply to questions.
As part of the process to implement the deal, India concluded negotiations with IAEA on the safeguards agreement in February but could not sign it because government agreed to consider the final views of the UPA-Left panel on the issue.
After the last round of UPA-Left meeting on March 17, the Left parties and the government have been exchanging notes on related issues, but no details are available.
Though Left leaders have refused to divulge details about these exchanges, informed sources said these related to several political and technical matters like assurance on uninterrupted fuel supplies.
The Left has been opposing the deal on the grounds that conditions laid down by the Hyde Act would impinge on India pursuing an independent foreign policy and make it "subservient" to US strategic interests worldwide.
Indicating a shift in its stand, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee recently said government would seek "sense of the House" on the stalled deal before it goes to the US Congress for ratification.
However, Left sources said the government already knows "the sense of opposition to the nuclear deal expressed in both Houses of Parliament. Government has no majority on the issue. What more do they need?"
The safeguards agreement with the IAEA and a waiver from the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers' Group to enable India participate in nuclear commerce are the two pre-requisites to operationalise the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
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