By IANS
New Delhi : The government is likely to announce in two days a panel to look into the Indo-US nuclear agreement, amid indications that further negotiations on the deal will be put on the backburner for now.
Left leaders who have had discussions with Congress leaders and ministers to break a stalemate over the row said the ruling party was keen to retain power rather than insist on going ahead with the nuclear deal and risk communist support so crucial for the government’s survival.
The core group of the Congress – External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel – Tuesday ended their talks with the four Left parties.
While Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Communist Party of India and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leaders met the Congress leaders Monday, the Forward Bloc was engaged in discussions Tuesday.
“The Congress is expected to get back to us soon. We have made it clear that negotiations with the US cannot go ahead unless the agreement is evaluated,” said Forward Bloc leader G. Devarajan, one of those who attended the meeting.
According to sources, the Congress leaders were expected to convey to Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the Left’s objections to the agreement by Tuesday evening.
The Congress leadership will consult its other allies in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) before taking a decision on the composition of a committee that will answer questions about the nuclear deal and other issues.
The Forward Bloc leaders said the Left would be a part of the committee.
“The government will decide the composition, terms of references and duration of the committee,” Devarajan told IANS. He said the Left parties would also meet to discuss the government’s suggestions.
The committee is a mechanism proposed by the government to placate the concerns expressed by the Left parties. The CPI-M-led Left has told the government not to go ahead with the nuclear deal. The Left, which extends crucial outside support to government, has warned of “serious consequences” if the deal is taken ahead.
The communists have been insisting that the proposed mechanism to go into issues arising out of the provisions in the Hyde Act in the US and the 123 agreement should be at the political level, involving leaders from both sides.
According to Left sources, the Congress leadership has said that it was ready to put further negotiations over the agreement with Washington on hold to placate the Left and thereby save the government from possible collapse.
A debate in parliament over the nuclear agreement is likely Wednesday.