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Centre to spell out plans on nuclear deal today

New Delhi: Amid continued nudging by the U.S. to conclude the civilian nuclear deal at the earliest, the government is expected to spell out its plans on the issue on Monday in Parliament when External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee makes a statement.

Mr. Mukherjee, who will be making the statement on ‘foreign policy issues,’ is expected to speak about the government’s intent on the civil nuclear deal and the progress made in this regard, sources told PTI on Sunday.

He will indicate the status of the negotiations with the IAEA on the safeguards agreement, which is a key step under the India-U.S. nuclear deal.

Negotiators of India and IAEA concluded the fifth round of talks on the safeguards agreement on Thursday last and reported “considerable progress” towards the agreed text.

It is, however, not clear how far the two sides have been able to resolve the differences over issues like India’s right to build strategic fuel reserve and acknowledgement of its military nuclear programme by the global atomic watchdog.

The U.S. has been pressing India to conclude the agreement with the IAEA at the earliest, with Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns setting the March-end deadline for it.

Washington has been maintaining that if the agreement does not come before the U.S. Congress by May-end or early June, it would be difficult to get it passed.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently told U.S. Senators here that there were “difficulties,” apparently referring to the Left parties’ stiff opposition to operationalisation of the deal. — PTI

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