The Hindu Business Line : UPA, Left meet again on Nov 16

New Delhi, Oct. 22 Under mounting pressure from the Left parties to clarify its stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Government on Monday said the operationalisation of the deal will take place in accordance with the UPA-Left joint committee’s recommendations.

The External Affairs Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, specified this after a meeting here between representatives of the Left parties and the UPA coalition.

The Minister said the panel would meet again on November 16.

Reading out from a statement, Mr Mukherjee said the deliberations in the committee were held in a “constructive and cordial atmosphere.”

He said the deliberations covered issues, including the implications of the proposed Indo-US bilateral agreement on civil nuclear cooperation and the impact of the Hyde Act on India’s indigenous nuclear programme and its pursuit of an independent foreign policy.

Issues to be addressed

The committee, in its meeting, deliberated on additional information furnished by the Left parties, to which the Government would issue a reply in due course.

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 its findings, the statement said.

Prior to the crucial meeting, the Congress-led UPA and Left parties on Monday held separate deliberations to fine-tune their strategies.

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