By IANS
New Delhi : Communist leader Prakash Karat Saturday warned there would be “serious consequences” for the Congress-led government and the country if it went ahead with the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement.
Addressing journalists after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary said he and his colleague Sitaram Yechury had conveyed to them the Left’s strong reservations over the nuclear deal.
“It is for the Congress leadership to decide on the matter which will have serious consequences for the government and the country,” Karat said. “I wish to stress that the Left parties are firmly united on the stand that this agreement should not go forward.
“This nuclear agreement is not acceptable to us. Our view is that the government should not take the next step at IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), which will lead to the perpetuity agreement… That step should not be taken now,” he said, speaking partly in English and partly in Hindi.
“I think the government knows that the majority in parliament have strong reservations over the matter. So the democratic way would be to hold the agreement till the doubts and apprehensions are clarified.”
Referring to the stand taken by the CPI-M politburo, he said: “We have met the Congress leadership today to convey the content of this (politburo) resolution. We met the prime minister, Sonia Gandhi and (External Affairs Minister) Pranab (Mukherjee).
“We have explained to them how we view this agreement, how we think it is necessary for the government to look at all the aspects before going to the next step which will make it a fait accompli.
“The CPI-M views on the nuclear deal are well known. But more important than that, on foreign policy, we told the Congress leadership that they have historically played a role in forging a consensus on foreign policy. Unfortunately, on this nuclear agreement and on its consequences on foreign policy, there is no consensus.
“Even when the CPI-M strongly opposed Congress governments, we have supported their foreign policy. We have urged them to seriously consider what the politburo has suggested.
“We hope they will discuss the (politburo resolution) and get back to us. We will have to wait for their response.”
In response to questions, Karat said the Indo-US nuclear agreement should not be seen “as a narrow party issue. It concerns the entire country. So we are saying (that) don’t proceed, discuss the matter, take into account all the matters and then we can take a decision.
Asked if he desired Manmohan Singh to quit, Karat replied: “I am not suggesting anything.”