Wednesday’s much-hyped meeting of the UPA-Left joint nuclear committee did what it was expected to do.
NEW DELHI: Wednesday’s much-hyped meeting of the UPA-Left joint nuclear committee did what it was expected to do. It slurred over Left-Congress differences on the India-US deal and bought survival time for the Manmohan Singh government by agreeing to meet again, date undecided, to finalise the “findings” of the committee.
However, the meeting had its share of fireworks. Tempers flared when RSP leader N Chandrachudan demanded that the committee set a firm date for its next meeting. Pranab Mukherjee retorted that he had several international commitments and he would have to find a free slot in his calendar of engagements. As usual, it was Lalu Prasad who restored peace by chiding quarrelling members not to nitpick and give the BJP the political advantage.
Ironically, Wednesday’s compromise formula was floated by none other than CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat. He had said in an interview to a leading daily in Chennai a couple of days ago that he wanted the committee to finish its mandated task (of preparing a report) before the government takes a final view on whether or not to go ahead with the nuclear deal.
The process of preparing a draft report will naturally take time, as will the process of finalising its findings. The fact that no date was set for the next meeting of the joint committee indicates that neither side is in a hurry to bring matters to a head. In any case, the government has till September to take the make-or-break decision to seek the International Atomic Energy Agency’s approval for the draft safeguards agreement that has been negotiated.
The next meeting of the IAEA board of governors, which will give the formal okay, is scheduled for September 21.
Judging from the tone and tenor of today’s discussions, there seems to be no meeting ground and the committee’s final report could include a note of dissent from the Left. At Wednesday’s meeting, Karat read out a two-page note reiterating the Left’s opposition to the nuclear deal.
And the government circulated an energy security document that detailed India’s future energy requirements and reaffirmed the need to add nuclear energy to the basket to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels.
But behind the conflicting stands, there is a common reluctance to bring on an early election by destroying the secular unity that gave birth to the present government. It is quite clear that neither the Left nor the Congress and its UPA allies want to give the BJP an opportunity to gain from a split in their ranks. The hunt for a satisfactory resolution to the nuclear conundrum is likely to continue in the intervening weeks till the next meeting of the joint committee.
Pre-meeting consultations between the Congress, Left and UPA leaders began early in the morning and went on through the day with Pranab Mukherjee reporting to Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at every step. The crux of the consultations was to hammer out a joint statement that would not compromise positions on either side. At present, the Congress is sticking by the PM in his commitment to go ahead with the deal and the Left is adamant in its opposition to any forward movement on the issue.
It was CPI leader AB Bardhan who first indicated that the government was in no danger. He told a television channel in the afternoon, “The government is safe for the moment.”
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