CPI-M all set to put UPA on notice

The Communist Party of India-Marxist is all set to put the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance government on notice.

It is now the turn of the CPI-M to tell the government "take it or leave it" -- their stand over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

The CPI-M has clarified its position to the government through an editorial in People's Democracy, the party mouthpiece to be published on Friday.

While doing some plaintalking, CPI-M has said that if the government takes steps to operationalise the deal, then it will amount to a gross violation of the majority opinion in Parliament.

In its editorial, the Left party has threatened the government that it will take necessary steps to stop the government from proceeding any further over the nuclear deal.

"The Left parties will take all the necessary steps to stop the government from taking such a harmful step. It is for the Congress leadership to decide whether it wants to be seen as kowtowing to the pressure of the Bush administration or acting democratically and heeding the voice of Parliament and the people. And this decision has to be a quick and clear one. The future of this government depends on the decision they will take," the editorial said.

The ongoing confrontation over the Indo-US civil nuclear deal is leading towards a final confrontation between the Left parties and the government. According to sources in the CPI-M, the "crucial" point has arrived.

The CPI-M has asked the government to call a meeting of the Joint Committee of the UPA and the Left parties to discuss the exact position of the deal at the International Atomic Energy Agency and the precise intentions of the government.

The Left parties want the meeting to be held on or before March 15.

The Left parties' tough talk is due to many factors. First, Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee's proposed visit to US to discuss the issues related to the Indo-US civil nuclear deal has not been taken lightly by the Left parties because on November 16, 2007, the government had committed that after the talks with the IAEA it will report the outcome to the joint committee.

The press statement even said that the outcome of the IAEA talks will be taken into account for arriving at the findings of the committee and that without agreement on these findings, the government will not proceed further with the agreement.

Then, it was told to the government by the Left parties that the government cannot proceed with the finalisation of the IAEA safeguards agreement and take the next step to go to the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

The Left parties suspect that the government is toying with idea of pushing the deal to its next destination, i.e. the NSG.

While preempting any such move, the CPI-M is now throwing the ball in the government's court to spell out in public their plans over the deal.

The recent news reports about the fifth round of negotiations with the IAEA is making the CPI-M angry.

The reports have been claiming, "The Indian side has got a safeguards agreement, which will overcome all the problems posed by the Hyde Act and its 123 progeny."

The CPI-M claims in its editorial, "This is, to use an American term, pure baloney! Neither the Hyde Act nor the 123 agreement grants lifetime fuel supply assurance to the safeguarded reactors. At the same time, the safeguards are put in perpetuity. It is not within the scope or jurisdiction of the IAEA to provide any assurance for uninterrupted fuel supply or help India build a strategic reserve. Neither is it within the powers of the IAEA to spell out corrective measures that can be taken by India in the event of the termination of the fuel supply by a party contracted to do so."

Also, the CPI-M has been consistently telling the UPA government that it hardly cares for the safeguards agreement.

Its problem lies with the terms and scope of the Hyde Act and 123 agreement.

The nuclear deal, which carries a huge geo-political dimension to it, has become the bone of contention in India's domestic politics and if the government shows any sign of operationalising the deal, it can push the government towards uncertainty and instabilty because the support of the Left parties is crucial for the ruling alliance.

Without the support of the Left parties, the government will turn into a minority.

Since the last few days the nuclear deal has resurfaced again from the underground and has somewhat surprised the Left parties.

They are peeved to see the government's serious attempt to push it to its logical conclusion. The leaders of the Left parties are also irritated by the series of American dignitaries' "tremendous pressure" on thr Indian government to go for the deal.

The issue of the nuclear deal has taken a serious turn in view of the fact that the CPI-M is determined to not support in any manner whatsoever the UPA government if they are "officially" pushing the deal, ignoring the Left parties' reservation over it.

It is understandable that party supremo Prakash Karat will not like to go down in history with the note that under his leadership, when his party was supporting the government, the historic Indo-US civil nuclear deal was signed.

Even though the finance bill has not been passed, the CPI-M is no mood to give any space to the government to maneuver the deal and have their say in the Budget session.

The CPI-M doesn't want to repeat its "tactical error" of allowing the government to go to the IAEA to discuss the India-specific safeguards agreement.

The CPI-M's no-nonsense political talk will certainly embarrass Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Dr Singh, who have been the staunch supporters of the deal.

It is now clear that the Left parties would like to withdraw support to the UPA government much before the government gets in hand the final agreement with the IAEA and consequently, the US takes it to the NSG.

However, Mukherjee said in an interview with Outlook in October 2007, "The survival of the government is more important than the nuclear deal, which is still there." He ruled out the possibility of a minority government signing the nuclear agreement, saying the US was not ready for it.

But, Mukherjee's views were not echoed by Assistant Secretary of State Richard A Boucher who is handling South and Central Asian Affairs. On his visit to Delhi on Wednesday, he was asked if the US is not bothered by the lack of consensus in India over the deal and if he is not concerned over what will happen to the nuclear deal after the tenure of this government.

Boucher underplayed it when he said, "We deal with the government that is in power, that is duly elected and represents India. Whatever political considerations they have, they'll take care of. That is the way international relations work between democracies. I don't find anything unusual about the current situation. If they feel they're in a position to go forward, then we go forward. It's pretty simple as far as we're concerned."

The CPI-M does not think it is as simple as that. Before Mukherjee leaves for the US trip, the CPI-M wants to confront the government over the Indo-US nuclear deal.