The Hindu : Front Page : Left to submit note on deal today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 14, 2007
ePaper

Front Page

Front Page

Left to submit note on deal today

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI:The Left parties will submit a detailed note on their objections to the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal to the UPA-Left committee on Friday.

The contents of the note were finalised at a meeting of the Communist Party of India, the CPI(M), the Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party here on Thursday.

The note will spell out their opposition and concerns in the context of the Hyde Act and its implications for the country’s foreign policy. Left leaders said they were expecting a reply from the government on Monday, ahead of the second meeting of the UPA-Left committee on Wednesday.

“All that we discussed were the points on which we will prepare our note, nothing more than that,” CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan told reporters after the meeting.

Committee meeting

Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas said the note would be sent to the committee on Friday. “The reply from the government should come to us by Monday. Then taking both the notes, the committee will meet on the Wednesday,” he said.

Mr. Biswas said the first meeting itself had noted the concerns voiced by the Left parties. “We are only going to elaborate on them. There is 123 Agreement, Hyde Act and domestic laws on these issues we will be submitting our note,” he added.

Karat’s caution

PTI reports:

“Blair has resigned. Abe has gone. Howard is going,” CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat on Thursday reminded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asking him to be “very careful about choosing his friends.”

Mr. Karat hinted that Prime Ministers of Britain and Japan — Tony Blair and Shinzo Abe — paid the price for being too close to U.S. President George W Bush, to drive home the point that Dr. Singh might face the same fate in the context of the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal. Australian Premier John Howard on Thursday indicated that he was willing to stand down.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page