Govt-Left fission over on N-deal soon

NEW DELHI: The Centre, which now has the ‘budget trophy’ to showcase, is bracing up for the challenge of negotiations with Left parties on the Indo-US nuclear deal. The government has already indicated to Left leaders that the text of the India-specific safeguards would be brought to the policy table for discussions.

The Left, which finds itself on the defensive after the ‘popular and populist’ budget, has already made it clear that the government cannot count on its support for the deal. The Left has been maintaining that even a IAEA safeguards protecting Indian interests would not soften its stand.

External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is expected to make a statement in Parliament on Monday, on the recent policy initiatives of the government is expected to provide an indication of the centre’s thinking on the deal. That the government is keen to take the next step soon was evident on Friday when Mr Mukherjee told CPM’s Sitaram Yechury about the plans to convene a meeting of the UPA-Left panel on the deal in the near future.

This plan comes in the wake of considerable progress Indian negotiators have made in talks with IAEA. Ravi B Grover said that India and IAEA have narrowed down the differences on India-specific safeguards. “The fifth round of talks made considerable progress and further details will be worked after consultations with the Centre,” reports from Mumbai quoting Mr Grover said.

The US, which is anxious to operationalise the agreement before the US Congress gets into the election mode, has been sending official delegations to persuade the Indian side. US assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher will undertake a two-day visit here from Tuesday, during which the two sides are expected to review progress on implementation of the deal. Boucher, in-charge of South Asia, will hold talks with his counterpart Gayatri Kumar, joint secretary in the ministry of external affairs, and is expected to meet foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon.

The domestic opposition to the nuclear deal is likely to intensify in the days to come. The Left will be under pressure to match the BJP’s opposition to the deal inside Parliament. With Congress wresting the initiative through the budget, the Left will not spare any opportunity to make things difficult for the government.