The Left parties Tuesday appeared to have persuaded government from going ahead with any negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the nuclear deal for the time being during a meeting they had with United Progressive Alliance leaders.
"We don't think any formal negotiations will begin (with IAEA) before this committee comes out with its findings," Communist Party of India General Secretary A B Bardhan said after an over two-hour-long meeting of the UPA-Left Committee on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
'If the government goes, let it go'
"Our talks are continuing. I don't think anything will be operationalised," the veteran leader said a day after Left parties made it clear to UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi that the government cannot initiate negotiations with the IAEA before the committee to go into their concerns on the deal came out with its findings.
However, there was no formal word from the government side on this issue, though RJD chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad exuded confidence and said "the government is not falling. There will be no snap poll."
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who chaired the meeting of the 15-member committee, said the panel would continue discussions on October 22. "The members shared in detail their perceptions on various aspects of the cooperation agreement between India and the US. Discussions were also initiated on the implications of the nuclear agreement on foreign policy and security cooperation," he said reading out a prepared statement.
The meeting was held in the backdrop of strong and divergent views expressed by both UPA and Left parties on the issue that fuelled speculation about mid-term polls. The outside supporters have been insisting that the government should not go ahead with formal negotiations on India-specific safeguards with the IAEA till this panel completed its work.