Hemmed in, UPA fixes March 17 for nuclear deal meeting with Left

Two days after the CPI threatened to withdraw support to the Government if it unilaterally went ahead with its plan on the Indo-US nuclear deal...

Two days after the CPI threatened to withdraw support to the Government if it unilaterally went ahead with its plan on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the UPA has conveyed its willingness to discuss the matter with the Left.

The meeting on the deal will be held on March 17 at External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s residence. This was communicated to the Left parties by Mukherjee today.

The meeting, which will discuss what transpired between the Government and the IAEA at Vienna in the last round of talks, is expected to find a way out from

the stand-off over the deal. Ahead of talks with the Government, Left partners will meet on March 15.

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Opposed to the deal, the Left had demanded an immediate meeting of the coordination committee, pointing out that there was a written agreement between the UPA and Left that the Government would not sign any agreement with the IAEA and get back to the committee.

Insisting that the deal is “not in the interest of the country”, the Left has been threatening withdrawal of support if the Government goes ahead with it. The CPM has even said its agenda is the deal and not the stability of the Government or elections. “Whether the Government goes in for early elections is for them to decide,” CPM’s Sitaram Yechury has said.

Though the Congress had earlier taken a hard line, leaders have been indicating of late that the Government’s survival is more important than the deal.