PM meets President amidst N-deal standoff

In the midst of an unresolved standoff with the Left parties on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday and discussed the current situation with her in a meeting which lasted for about 50 minutes. 

A Rashtrapati Bhavan release said they discussed national and international developments and the forthcoming G-8 summit in Japan next week, which the prime minister is scheduled to attend.

The release made no no mention of the current political impasse on the nuclear deal, which is believed to have figured in their discussions. The Left parties, providing outside support of their 60 members to the United Progressive Alliance government, have threatened to withdraw it if the government proceeds with the deal.