Wednesday, May 7, 2008, Rabi-ul-Sani 30, 1429    

Nuclear deal with US
Indian Govt bid to get Left support failed

New Delhi—The UPA-Left committee on Indo-US nuclear deal on Tuesday decided to meet in the Capital again on May 28 after the government made a vain bid to get the outside allies’ support for going ahead with securing the India-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA.
External Affairs Minister and government’s chief negotiator with the Left on the issue, Pranab Mukherjee merely said after the eighth round that in-depth discussions were held on the India-specific safeguards agreement between India and the global atomic watchdog Internal Atomic Energy Agency.
“Further discussions will be held in the next meeting of the committee on May 28, 2008,” he said in the presence of CPM leader Sitaram Yechury after the eighth round.
Forward Bloc leader Debabrata Biswas, who also attended the meeting, said the government wanted the Committee to give a go-ahead to it to get the approval of IAEA’s Board of Governors for the safeguards agreement but they sought clarifications on the issue.
Following this, he said, the committee agreed to meet again on May 28, he added. The Left parties will meet on May 23 to decide their strategy ahead of the committee’s next meeting, Biswas said.