A day after the United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi attacked the opponents of the India-United States civil nuclear deal, the Left parties on Monday said India need not surrender its "vital interests" to America on the agreement.
"The Left parties categorically reiterate that the nuclear deal with the US is against the interests of India. Those who advocate the deal, should know that India is capable of developing nuclear energy primarily on a self-reliant basis," top Left leaders said in a statement.
"We need not surrender our vital interests to America on this plea," CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat, CPI leader A B Brdhan, Forward Bloc's Deabrata Bisws and RSP's Abani Roy said in the statement.
The reaction came a day after Gandhi obliquely attacked the Left, saying that "elements" opposing the nuclear agreement were not only "enemies" of the Congress, but also of the nation's progress and development.