New Delhi
22 October 2007
The nuclear deal with the United States will not be operationalised till
November 16. A joint statement issued after the meeting of the UPA-Left committee on
Monday said that the deal will remain on hold till the 15-member panel arrives at
findings. The government also expressed its willingness to hold a parliamentary debate
on the nuclear deal. The UPA conveyed as much to the Left parties when they met at
Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee's 13 Talkatora Road residence for the fifth
round of talks on the proposed India-US civil nuclear cooperation agreement.
Mr Mukherjee, who is the convener of the UPA-Left committee examining the implications
of the nuclear deal, read out the joint statement after the meeting. He said that the
committee continued its deliberations in a constructive and cordial atmosphere on the
issues that have been raised concerning the implications of the proposed India-US
bilateral agreement on civil nuclear energy cooperation, including the implications of the
Hyde Act on India's nuclear programme and its pursuit of an independent foreign policy.
He went on to state that the members of the committee expressed the hope that the
issues currently before it would be addressed in an appropriate manner and the
operationalisation of the deal will take into account the committee's findings. The next
meeting of the committee will be held on November 16, the statement added.
In the meeting, Mr Mukherjee read out the relevant portions from the remarks recently
made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi. He
offered clarifications on the meaning and intent of their remarks and sought to allay the
Left's reservations on the nuclear deal and elections. The Prime Minister's telephonic
conversation with US President George Bush came up for discussion too. Bush was told
that New Delhi might not be able to adhere to the time table preferred by Washington
because certain difficulties had arisen and New Delhi needed time for discussions. The
Left parties, in turn, handed over another document listing out their concerns about the
India-US defence framework and the proposed logistics agreement. The joint statement
issued after the meeting said that the UPA will reply in due course.
The discussions also centred around the modalities for holding a parliamentary debate
on the nuclear deal. The UPA had conveyed its willingness to hold a discussion in
Parliament in the October 5 meeting of the committee. That offer was renewed in
Monday's meeting with the caveat that it must be impressed upon the BJP-led
Opposition that it will not disrupt parliamentary proceedings. Proceedings in the
monsoon session were stalled for several days with BJP paralysing the Lok Sabha and
the Rajya Sabha demanding a joint paliamentary committee into the nuclear issue. The
sources said that the Speaker and the Opposition would be consulted on the probable
dates for the winter session of Parliament. They said that it has been the practice that
Parliament is postponed when Assembly elections take place. "Consultations will need
to take place in view of the Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh," a
source said.
The Left parties, for their part, maintained that the nuclear deal is not acceptable to them.
They said that the committee has covered a lot of outstanding issues since the UPA-Left
committee was constituted earlier this year. They hoped that the committee will finalise
its findings on November 16. They did not rule out more rounds of meetings of the UPA-
Left committee. A source said that there was "no meeting point" despite five rounds of
talks and the findings might confirm what was suspected all along: that the UPA and the
Left will agree to disagree.
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