Panel on n-deal likely to meet on May 5

To discuss issues raised by Left in a questionnaire about the draft agreement on India-specific safeguards with IAEA

The UPA-Left committee on Indo-US nuclear deal will meet in the first week of next month, tentatively on May 5, to discuss issues raised by the Left in a questionnaire about the draft agreement on India-specific safeguards with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In the questionnaire, recently submitted to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the Left was learnt to have reiterated its known position on this issue — whether the deal seeks to bind India to US foreign policy, whether the US would constantly shift goalposts in the process of translating the agreement into law, etc. The Left wants the Government to explain whether the Hyde Act expects India to have a foreign policy ‘congruent’ to the US and also about the implications of the 123 Agreement.

The meeting of the UPA-Left mechanism on the nuclear deal could coincide with the Budget meeting of the IAEA scheduled from May 5 and plenary of the Nuclear Suppliers Group in the third week of May. As all Board members of the IAEA will be present for the Budget meeting, in special circumstances they could also hold a special meeting of the Board.

Story continues below this ad

As the Finance Bill 2008-09 will have been passed by the time the UPA and Left meet to discuss the nuclear deal, the Government will also be breathing a little easier. The UPA crisis managers have been anxious to pass the Finance Bill because it will give them some leeway in dealing with the Left, which has been threatening to pull the rug in case the UPA Government goes ahead with the deal.

At the last meeting of the UPA-Left mechanism on nuclear deal, the Government had briefed the Left about the main points of the draft agreement with the IAEA, even as it refused to hand over the text. The Left had then said it would get back to the Government with a questionnaire.

Confirming that the questionnaire had been forwarded to the Government, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan told The Indian Express: “We have asked the Government to clarify its position on certain issues pertaining to the deal.”

Harping on the apprehension about the deal compromising the country’s sovereignty, in the questionnaire, the Left has questioned whether the deal would abridge the country’s freedom to pursue an independent foreign policy.

Story continues below this ad

The Left has asked whether the deal would block or restrict the country’s capabilities in the nuclear sphere, whether it would hinder India’s right to have nuclear arrangements with other countries like France or Russia.

The Left has also sought to know whether the deal would make India a strategic ally of the US and whether this is an agreement only on nuclear cooperation or it is part of a wider agreement.

The Left has asked the Government to substantiate its claim that deal is a solution to India’s energy problem and raises its apprehensions on the promise of uninterrupted fuel supplies.