The Indian government has not given up on the India-United States civil nuclear deal and dismissed any link between the recent electoral defeats of the Congress and progress with Left on the issue.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee also discounted the possibility of midterm polls to the Lok Sabha in the wake of differences with the supporting Left parties on the deal.
Mukherjee, the key government negotiator with the Left on the deal, agreed time is running out for completing the processes in executing it. "One cannot help it. But, I have not given up. We are working on how we can proceed," he said.
He was replying to a question on whether the government has given up on the deal because of the stiff opposition from the Left parties. He dismissed suggestions that the deal would now be on the backburner as the Left may step up pressure in the wake of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh poll outcome, saying, "Their position is not linked with electoral successes and reverses."
Making light of a question on the possibility of snap polls, he said, "So long as you go on talking about mid-term poll... ultimately we will reach the day when polls will be held in time." Mukherjee sidestepped repeated queries on a specific timeframe for operationalising the deal, but hoped that negotiations with the IAEA on a safeguards treaty should be completed by the end of January.