Wednesday, October 24, 2007

'PM will not give up, determined to push N-deal'

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is determined to push a nuclear deal with the United States despite stiff opposition from the Left parties, a lobbying group quoted him as saying.
The historic deal has brought the coalition government to the brink of collapse as Left parties have threatened to end support if the pact is pursued.

Singh appeared to have given in and put the deal on the backburner earlier this month but has since said he remains hopeful of clinching it, sparking fresh political uncertainty and new questions over the agreement's fate.

Singh told members of the US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC), who met him late on Tuesday, that the nuclear agreement was the best way forward for India, the United States, and the world, a statement from the group said on Wednesday.

"We ... found him determined to take the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement forward despite some opposition typical in a vibrant democracy like India," said Sanjay Puri, chairman of the Washington-based USINPAC.

"The message that the Prime Minister wanted the USINPAC delegation to take back to America was that his government is working to take this deal forward," the statement added.

It did not elaborate on how Singh planned to overcome the opposition of the left parties to the deal, which faces an informal US deadline related to securing approval of America's Congress well before presidential polls next year.

The government and the communists have formed a joint panel to resolve the face-off but it has made little progress and is due to hold a final meeting on Nov. 16 to draft its report.

"Call Communist Bluffll"

The civilian nuclear cooperation deal aims to lift a three-decade ban on sales of US nuclear fuel and reactors to India, imposed after it conducted a nuclear test in 1974, while staying out of non-proliferation agreements.

But the communists have rejected it, saying it hurts India's sovereignty and imposes US hegemony

Courtesy:expressindia.com
Complete artical HERE.

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