The Hindu : National : Pranab will reply in an apt manner: Moily

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Pranab will reply in an apt manner: Moily

M. Veerappa Moily

New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday kept up the suspense whether it would clarify by Monday to the Left parties on the issue of moving forward on the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal as the deadline set by them nears its end.

“It is for senior leader Pranab Mukherjee to reply. He will reply in an appropriate manner,” AICC media department chairperson Veerappa Moily said when asked whether the head of the UPA-Left joint mechanism on the deal would respond before the deadline.

The party earlier rejected the deadline contending that sovereign governments or political parties cannot be bound by ultimatums.

“No threat”

Defence Minister A.K. Antony told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that there was no threat to the UPA government. It would be able to prove its majority in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Antony said, after visiting senior Congress leader K. Karunakaran, who celebrated his 90th birthday on Saturday.

The Left parties had the freedom to take their own stand on the issue, he said, adding that ‘no one should teach’ the Congress the importance of independence and foreign policy.

The Centre would not take any step that would hurt the interests of the country, he said.

On the threat of the Left parties, he said they should not withdraw support to the government because of the nuclear deal. — PTI

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