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UPA speakers briefed on deal

— Photo: V. Sudershan

From left, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Congress MP Sachin Pilot, after a meeting in New Delhi on Sunday.

NEW DELHI: National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon briefed a select group of leaders from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Sunday on the India-U.S. nuclear deal to equip them with necessary information ahead of the trust vote debate in the Lok Sabha beginning Monday.

Also present at the briefing to shore up the ruling party’s arguments during the debate were External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma.

Among those briefed was Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi who has been a keen advocate of the deal. Others that are being primed by the UPA to speak during the discussion include Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal and Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Ram Vilas Paswan.

Both officials acquainted the UPA members with the nuances and details of the deal and the draft safeguards agreement during the hour-long session at the South Block, which houses the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Office headquarters. Others who attended were Vayalar Ravi, Saifuddin Soz, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Praful Patel, A. Ramadoss, Sachin Pilot and Krishna Tirath.

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