Indo-US N-deal not in India's interest: Karat

NO FORWARD MOVEMENT: The Left says the Indo-US N-deal should not go forward.

J & K | Chhattisgarh | Delhi | MP |
Mizoram | Rajasthan

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

26/11: Terror comes precariously close

Featured Slideshows

New Delhi: The Left is in no mood to backtrack from its opposition of the Indo-US nuclear deal popularly known as the 123 Agreement.

On Saturday, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India -Marxist (CPI-M) Prakash Karat fired a fresh salvo following the Politburo meeting in New Delhi saying that they have not endorsed the stand of the UPA government on the nuclear deal.

"The Politburo of the CPI-M has not endorsed the stand on nuclear cooperation," Prakash Karat said adding that the agreement with the US is not acceptable.

Karat said that going ahead with the nuclear deal would not serve India's interest.

Karat also hinted that the government was in a minority on the issue of the nuclear deal saying that the majority in Parliament doesn't support the deal.

"It is for the Congress to look into the serious effect that this deal will have on the country. If the deal goes forward we will go for mass protests," Karat said.

"We are of the opinion that this agreement should not go forward. The government should not go ahead with this deal. We have to get into a deal separately with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," the CPI-M General Secretary said.

Karat also said that he along with senior CPI-M leader and Politburo member Sitaram Yechury met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi to discuss the issue. The meeting lasted for nearly an hour.

"We have gone and met the Congress leadership today to convey the context of the CPI-M resolution. We have explained to them how we view this agreement and how it is necessary for the government to look into this deal more seriously," Karat added.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is working on reconciliation efforts with the Left, was also present during the meeting.

Karat said that the deal was signed in a hurry and "unfortunately on the implications of the nuclear deal there is no consensus".

The CPI-M leaders also conveyed to the Congress leadership to look into the deal and get back to them with appropriate decision.