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CPM suggests mechanism to break impasse New Delhi, August 19 The differences between the UPA and the Left parties have widened with the Communists virtually leaving it to the Congress-led coalition to decide whether it would like to go along with Washington or the Left parties, whose support is critical for the effective survival of the government. While the meeting between CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury and external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee appeared to have provided some sort of elbow room for the crisis managers to work out, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan toughed his stand. There was a suggestion of setting up of a mechanism to study implications of the Hyde Act of the USA on India’s sovereignty after the Yechury-Pranab meeting. Speaking to mediapersons, Yechury said: “While no middle ground has been reached yet, they are open to a mechanism to study the Hyde Act. “Left concerns need to be evaluated before the government proceeds on IAEA safeguards. The government must decide what mechanism they would like to address our concerns with.” Mukherjee said both the Left and the Congress were trying to reach an amicable solution to the impasse. “There are about 45 countries that belong to the Nuclear Suppliers Group, their guidelines have to be amended as per India’s requirement and then, of course, the final stage would be ratification of this agreement by the US Congress. This stages are yet to be completed before the agreement can be operationalised,” he said. However, Bardhan addressing a meeting at Ahmedabad has stated that the UPA government would have to pay a “big political price” if they are not ready to reconcile. “They (UPA) will have to pay a big political price if they are not ready to reconcile with us on the nuclear issue. The Left had its final meeting with the Prime Minsiter on the issue yesterday,” Bardhan said. The central committee of the CPM would be holding an emergency meeting here on August 22 and 23. It is expected to endorse the tough stand taken by the party’s politburo. The Left yesterday stopped short of withdrawing support to the UPA government. Instead they had issued an ultimatum on the deal and warned of “serious consequences” if its concerns are not
addressed.
N-deal: Allies rally
behind PM New Delhi, August 19 The allies, which had a dinner meeting at Prime Minister’s residence with the Congress core group, expressed full faith in his leadership and that of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Sources said External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who has emerged as the main trouble-shooter of the government on the nuclear deal, briefed the UPA allies about the government’s position and the steps being taken to satisfy the concerns of the Left parties. With CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, who met Mukherjee in the afternoon, indicating that the Left leaders were willing to consider a mechanism regarding their concerns on the Hyde Act, the government is likely to set up a committee of experts to take a hard look at its provisions. Mukherjee is likely to make a statement in Parliament tomorrow about the constitution of the committee. Before UPA allies met, Congress core group discussed the ultimatum of the Left on the nuclear deal and steps to retrieve the situation. Sources said the UPA allies were sensitive to the government’s concern that any long postponement of the talks concerning the nuclear agreement would be against diplomatic norms. They said that the Left leaders would be told that while their concerns on the Hyde Act would be addressed, the negotiations could not be stopped altogether. Mukherjee later read out a statement on behalf of UPA leaders which said that under leadership of Prime Minister and UPA chairperson, the alliance has been consistently working for the welfare of common man and for promoting India’s supreme national interest in the international arena. “We are confident that they will be able to address all legitimate concerns, including those voiced by our Left colleagues, on the issue of national interest,” the statement said. With the Left maintaining that sections of the nuclear deal were against the country’s sovereignty, the statement laid emphasis the UPA leadership’s commitment to national interest. Sources said Mukherjee told the meeting the 123 agreement negotiated by India was better in several respects from the nuclear agreement of China with the US. The mood was that the government should not bend too much for the sake of its survival. Keen to prevent any mid-term poll at this juncture and not wanting the BJP to succeed in its efforts to fish in the troubled waters, the UPA allies seemed optimistic of a positive view from the Left on the steps taken to resolve the tangle. Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister Ramvilas Paswan, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Defence Minister A K Antony and Political Secretary to Congress President Ahmed Patel were among those present at the UPA meeting.
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Kolkata, August 19 They said Mukherjee conveyed to Bhattacharjee about the government’s move to set up a committee of experts to address the Left’s concerns over the deal. The phone call from Mukherjee came when he was attending a meeting of the Congress Core Group at the official residence of the Prime Minister. — PTI |
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