By IANS
New Delhi : Political impasse over the India-US civil nuclear deal deepened Wednesday with the Left parties adamant in their opposition to it even as Washington pressed New Delhi to push the landmark pact through and complete the next step of negotiating safeguards agreement with the IAEA.
The US stepped up efforts to accelerate the path-breaking deal that aims at ending India’s isolation from the international nuclear mainstream, and planned to call a special meeting of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to discuss the deal on the sidelines of the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.
US ambassador to India David Mulford met Prime Minister’s Special Envoy Shyam Saran and told him about the US plan to call a special meeting of the NSG. The NSG is expected to meet in Vienna Thursday.
Mulford also underlined the need for India to urgently conclude negotiations with the IAEA so that it can be taken up by the NSG for a rule change and endorsement by the US Congress well in time before Washington is swamped by election fever.
The government appeared determined to take forward negotiations with the IAEA next month despite the Left’s ultimatum to put the nuclear deal on hold. There was, however, no official confirmation of the government’s plan to open negotiations with the IAEA that may jeopardise its already strained ties with the Left combine, which is propping up the ruling coalition from outside.
In Vienna, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar tactfully remained quiet on the status of India’s negotiations with the UN nuclear watchdog, but conjured up a vibrant picture of India’s potential of emerging as a hub for the global nuclear industry.
But the Left’s implacable opposition to the nuclear deal, which was reinforced at its meeting with the government Wednesday, could well derail the deal and may even force a confrontation, leading to elections early next year.
In fact, differences between the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the Left parties over the nuclear deal appeared to have widened, with the communists rejecting the government’s arguments.
The UPA-Left committee on the nuclear deal, which held its second meeting Wednesday, discussed the differences but the talks were “inconclusive” and they decided to meet again Oct 5.
“The discussions were constructive and will continue at the next meeting of the committee,” External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who heads the 15-member committee, told reporters after the 90-minute meeting.
The Left leaders who attended the meeting were more candid.
“We agreed to disagree,” said T.J. Chandrachoodan, the representative of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) in the committee.
Left sources said there was no scope or chance for “agreement” between the UPA and the Left over the nuclear deal.
According to them, the two sides heldd detailed discussions on the notes they exchanged after the first meeting of Sep 11.
“In the first note, we have raised our concerns over the Hyde Act and its implications on 123 agreement. We are not convinced with even a single contention of the government. It is a lawyers’ contention,” Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A.B. Bardhan told reporters after the meeting, held at Mukherjee’s official residence here.
“Actually, the explanations (given by both Mukherjee and Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal from the UPA side) have reinforced our doubts,” said a Left leader.
The communists say the Hyde Act, passed by the US Congress in December last year, is not just about nuclear cooperation but also about asking India to dovetail its foreign policy to that of the US.
They sent a note on their concerns on the 123 agreement and the Hyde Act to the UPA, which replied Monday with its explanatory note, clarifying that the Hyde Act was a US domestic law and it would be subservient to 123 agreement in terms of the nuclear deal.
Chandrachoodan said the Left would give another note to the government Sep 24 on their concerns about the impact of 123 agreement and the Hyde Act on India’s foreign policy, to which the government would respond three days later. The committee will discuss the impact of strategic cooperation with the US at the third stage.
During the UPA-Left meet, “there was no mention of the ongoing IAEA meeting as there is an understanding between the government and the Left that there will not be any development on the India specific safeguard negotiations,” Chandrachoodan said.
The Left sources also said there was no reference to Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat’s fresh threat to the government Tuesday, warning of a political crisis and asking the government to put the deal on hold for six months.
Asked to comment on Karat’s remarks, Bardhan told reporters after Wednesday’s meeting: “There is no need for hurry.”
Ahead of the meeting, the four Left parties Wednesday discussed at the CPI-M headquarters the UPA reply note. At the meeting, the Left representatives handed over another note to the UPA, saying they were not convinced by the government’s explanations.
While government sources claimed that the IAEA negotiations were not part of “operationalisation” of the deal, Left leaders argue that it includes the talks in Vienna also.
The government has committed to the Left that the findings of the committee would be taken into account before the deal is operationalised.
The Left, meanwhile, reacted sharply to a time frame spelled out by the US ambassador and asked the government to explain its next course of action.
“The UPA government should tell the country whether it plans to adhere to this time frame or examine the serious objections raised to the agreement and keep in mind the fact that the majority in parliament is against proceeding with the agreement,” a statement issued by CPI-M politburo said.
Mulford Tuesday said the deal should be concluded within the term of the present US Congress.
In Vienna, political feuding back home did not dampen Kakodkar’s enthusiasm.
“India is looking forward to the possibility of opening up of international civil nuclear cooperation,” Kakodkar said at the 51st General Conference of the IAEA.
“We expect such cooperation to be sustainable, free from interruptions and consistent with our national policy of closed fuel cycle,” he said.
Kakodkar underlined the potential of the India-US civil nuclear deal to make his country a hub for the export of nuclear reactors and allied services.