Govt Takes 'Risk' on Operationalisation of N-Deal: CPI(M)

The Hindu
Mar 30, 2008

Coimbatore (PTI): Weeks ahead of the crucial UPA-Left meeting on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the CPI(M) on Sunday issued a veiled threat saying that the government would be taking a "risk" if it initialled the draft agreement at the IAEA. "The moment they start operationalisation of the deal, they are taking a risk. That is their call. It is upto the government" to decide whether it wants to start the process of operationalisation of the deal, Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said here. Maintaining that a meeting of the UPA-Left Committee was slated in April-end, he said the Left parties expected the government to brief them on the "full details" of the draft agreement arrived at with the IAEA. "We have told them not to proceed with ratification of the agreement because once it is ratified, the (Indo-US nuclear) deal will be on auto-pilot. The US will take it to the Nuclear Suppliers Group and then to the US Congress," he said.