By IANS
Bangalore : The UPA-Left committee on the India-US civil nuclear deal would give its report after Diwali, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said here Sunday.
“We expect the UPA-Left panel to come out with its findings after Diwali next month (Nov 9). Consensus on the nuclear deal is not possible unless the government first addresses our concerns,” he told reporters here on the sidelines of a function.
Yechury’s remarks on the differences between the Left parties and the United Progressive Alliance government over the nuclear deal came on the eve of the panel’s third meeting in New Delhi Monday on the concerns they have raised for operationalising the 123 agreement with the U.S.
“We are attending the meeting of the panel Monday on the understanding the government would not proceed with the deal before the panel’s findings are taken into account,” Yechury pointed out.
Expressing the hope that the dialogue would continue till a consensus was reached, he said the Left parties were open to hold more meetings with the government on the issue till their demands were met.
“We don’t expect Monday’s meeting to be the last one. If the government wants to meet us again, we will be willing so long as it takes our concerns on board and does not proceed with the deal till then,” the Marxist leader asserted.
The Left parties want the Manmohan Singh government to clarify the impact of the nuclear deal on the country’s independent foreign policy and security concerns in the subcontinent.
“We will come to know how the government wants to proceed with the deal at Monday’s meeting. Our future course of action depends on the government’s response to the issues we have raised,” Yechury added.