The Hindu : Front Page : Congress agrees on mechanism

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Tuesday, Aug 28, 2007
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Congress agrees on mechanism

Gargi Parsai

Bid to resolve stand-off with Left on nuclear deal

Senior Congress leaders meet CPI, CPI(M) leaders
India should refrain from raising safeguards pact at IAEA meet: Left

NEW DELHI: In a step forward to resolve the stand-off with the Left parties on the Indo-U.S. nuclear agreement, the Congress on Monday indicated its willingness to have a mechanism (committee) at the political level to address their concerns.

Left stand

The Left parties, however, made it clear that the mechanism would be meaningless if the government went ahead with operationalising the deal before addressing their objections. They also stuck to their stand that India should refrain from raising the nuclear safeguards pact at the International Atomic Energy Agency meeting in September.

This emerged after a meeting here of senior Congress leaders Pranab Mukherjee, A.K. Antony and Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, with Communist Party of India leaders A.B. Bardhan, D. Raja and Gurudas Dasgupta. The meeting lasted an hour.

“We have had a discussion with Congress leaders on the Left’s opposition to India’s nuclear deal with the U.S. The decision is that a mechanism be worked out at political level to address the objections of the Left parties,” Mr. Bardhan said after the meeting.

The composition of the committee and its terms of reference were also discussed. However, the details would be firmed up after further and wider consultations, including within the United Progressive Alliance. Mr. Mukherjee reportedly told the CPI leaders that the committee would have the mandate to consult experts, but it would not be a committee of experts, as was being speculated.

The Congress leaders later separately met the leaders of the CPI(M). They will also consult the Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party over the next two days on the issue.

Thereafter, a meeting would be held with the UPA partners before scheduling another meeting with the Left parties on the outcome of this exercise. This meeting is likely to be at the level of Ms. Gandhi.

During their meeting, Mr. Raja read out the joint statement of the Left parties to reiterate their position and underscore their major objections to the deal. For the better part, the Congress leaders just heard out the Left leaders without comment or commitment.

This was the first formal meeting of the Left leaders with the Congress after they declared that their marriage with the UPA had turned ‘sour’ over the nuclear deal.

Mr. Mukherjee and other Congress leaders declined to comment as “consultations were still on.”

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