The fourth meeting of the United Progressive Alliance and Left Front's joint committee to resolve concerns about the Indo-US nuclear deal ended on a lukewarm note on Tuesday. The committee is scheduled to meet again on October 22.
Mediapersons, who had turned up in large numbers anticipating fireworks between the feuding allies, were disappointed. Incidentally, a meeting between UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Communist Part of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat had reportedly ended on a bitter note on Monday night.
"The fourth meeting of the UPA-Left Committee on the India-United States civil nuclear cooperation was held today. All members of the committee took part in the meeting, which was held in a cordial atmosphere," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while reading out a statement.
However, Union Railway Minister and committee member Lalu Prasad Yadav told mediapersons after the meeting, "We will not let the government fall."
Communist Party of India leader D Raja and CPM leader Sitaram Yechuri said that the discussions between the two sides would continue. "We talked about some aspects of the nuclear agreement and also on foreign policy issues and security cooperation," Raja said in response to a question from rediff.com.
The Left Front is expected to meet in the evening to decide their next strategy.