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I do not see an ultimatum to Government: Pranab

NEW DELHI: Reacting to the Polit Bureau statement of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Pranab Mukherjee told a group of journalists here on Saturday that he did not see it as an ultimatum to the government. Asked if the statement contained an implicit withdrawal threat — “scrap the deal or we withdraw support” — the Minister for External Affairs said “withdrawal of support never came up at any time at any level during our many discussions with the Left. It is not in the text of the statement either. If they mean it, they will say it.” Mr. Mukherjee admitted that “there are genuine differences between our approach and theirs.”

Mr. Mukherjee, who talked to Sitaram Yechury soon after the CPI(M)’s Polit Bureau meeting, said the CPI(M) was specific in asking the government not to proceed to the next step in the Indo-U.S. deal.

“They are asking us not go to the IAEA.” The Minister refused to discuss the options before the government but said it would have to take into account all aspects, including holding consultations within the Congress core group and with partners in the United Progressive Alliance, before taking a decision.

Mr. Mukherjee said there was a divergence of perception between the government and the Left on the Hyde Act as well as operationalisation of the deal.

The government was of the view that the provisions of the Hyde Act were not binding on India, but the CPI(M) saw the 123 in the light of the Act.

In the government’s opinion the deal would only become operational after it has crossed “three more hurdles”: negotiations with the IAEA, negotiations with the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and ratification by the U.S. Congress. The Left, on the other hand, viewed the next step, that is negotiations with the IAEA, as amounting to “operationalising the deal.”

Mr. Mukherjee noted that the Left had always been “anti-America” and had protested the Indo-U.S. joint military air and naval exercises.

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