No change in ‘no deal’ position, says Left
Even as PM Manmohan Singh told reporters in Moscow that the process of evolving a broadbased consensus on the Indo-US nuclear agreement with coalition partners was still on, his tormentors in the Left said there would be no change in their “no dea...
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: Even as PM Manmohan Singh told reporters in Moscow that the process of evolving a broadbased consensus on the Indo-US nuclear agreement with coalition partners was still on, his tormentors in the Left said there would be no change in their “no deal” position.
While Mr Singh did not elaborate on the deal’s fate in his interaction with the media in Moscow, the CPI(M) leader here sought to interpret the government’s decision to defer negotiations with the IAEA as a proof of the regime’s willingness to shun the deal for the sake of power at the Centre.
CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, who briefed his party’s politbureau on the discussions with the government on the deal, is learnt to have told his colleages that the Congress leadership did not seem inclined to upset the current arrangement at the Centre over the deal.
The press communiqué issued after the politbureau’s meeting also reiterated the party’s opposition to the deal. “The politbureau reiterated the stand of the Left parties that the government should not proceed further to operationalise the deal,” a press communiqué issued by the CPI(M) said.
Mr Karat, who addressed a press conference on Monday evening, said that differences between the two sides are yet to be sorted out. “We have a position on the deal. The government has its stand. We had five meetings on the issue,” he said. To a question whether there was a possibility of a consensus, Mr Karat said: “I did not say consensus.”
Mr Karat said the government’s decision not to go for talks on the India-specific safeguards in Sept-Oct showed that “they are not adamant”. The CPI(M) can be expected to use the strident anti-deal rhetoric in Parliament during the discussion on the nuclear agreement at the next meeting of the UPA-Left panel for demanding a complete stalling of negotiations.
The CPI(M) has been maintaining that since a majority inside Parliament is against the deal, it will not be proper to proceed with the negotiations.
While Mr Singh did not elaborate on the deal’s fate in his interaction with the media in Moscow, the CPI(M) leader here sought to interpret the government’s decision to defer negotiations with the IAEA as a proof of the regime’s willingness to shun the deal for the sake of power at the Centre.
CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, who briefed his party’s politbureau on the discussions with the government on the deal, is learnt to have told his colleages that the Congress leadership did not seem inclined to upset the current arrangement at the Centre over the deal.
The press communiqué issued after the politbureau’s meeting also reiterated the party’s opposition to the deal. “The politbureau reiterated the stand of the Left parties that the government should not proceed further to operationalise the deal,” a press communiqué issued by the CPI(M) said.
Mr Karat, who addressed a press conference on Monday evening, said that differences between the two sides are yet to be sorted out. “We have a position on the deal. The government has its stand. We had five meetings on the issue,” he said. To a question whether there was a possibility of a consensus, Mr Karat said: “I did not say consensus.”
Mr Karat said the government’s decision not to go for talks on the India-specific safeguards in Sept-Oct showed that “they are not adamant”. The CPI(M) can be expected to use the strident anti-deal rhetoric in Parliament during the discussion on the nuclear agreement at the next meeting of the UPA-Left panel for demanding a complete stalling of negotiations.
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The CPI(M) has been maintaining that since a majority inside Parliament is against the deal, it will not be proper to proceed with the negotiations.
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