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Something will come out of talks on deal: Karat

NEW DELHI: Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat on Monday said there was a possibility that something would come out of the meeting of the United Progressive Alliance-Left committee on the nuclear deal with the United States.

He was briefing reporters after a two-day meeting of the party’s Polit Bureau.

The 15-member committee was to meet on November 16 but it was postponed. A fresh date is expected to be announced soon. The Left parties have reiterated that the committee’s findings should be considered before the government operationalised the deal.

“The government did not go to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for negotiations in September-October as demanded by us. We are also trying not to be adamant. Neither the government nor we are adamant. Both sides have their respective stand on the nuclear agreement,” Mr. Karat said.

He, however, appeared confident that the issue would be “sorted out” and the UPA-Left dialogue would continue to see how it could be sorted out. “We are keen on a discussion in Parliament. I hope all parties for and against the deal will express their views.”

The Polit Bureau reiterated the Left parties’ stand that the government should not go ahead with operationalising the deal. “There has to be a discussion on the deal in the coming session of Parliament,” it noted.

Among other issues that came up for discussion at the Polit Bureau meeting were price rise, support price of Rs. 1,000 a quintal for paddy, oil price hike, delay in notification of Tribal Forest Act, women’s reservation and the 19th party congress to be held in Coimbatore from March 29 to April 2.

Mr. Karat said an outline of the draft political resolution was discussed. Based on this a draft would be prepared and placed at the next meeting of the Central Committee in December.

On Emergency in Pakistan, the Polit Bureau reaffirmed its solidarity and support to the people of Pakistan, who were struggling for restoration of democracy.

PTI reports:

The Communist Party of India on Monday indicated that the Left may consider allowing the government to discuss with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) an India-specific safeguards agreement needed for operationalising the nuclear deal without initialling it.

Party general secretary A. B. Bardhan told NDTV that the UPA-Left Committee, constituted to go into the apprehensions over the deal, may consider such a proposition.

“It is not a question of my considering it. I am again repeating it, it’s a question of being said in the Committee which has been set up and the Committee coming to this finding that ‘yes it can be allowed provided they come back before initialling it, before sending it to the [IAEA] Board of Governors, they [government] should come and at that time also we say [that no, nothing doing, they must stop.]’ ”

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