Government plans to carry out IAEA, NSG stages of nuke deal

Seeking to take the Indo-US nuclear deal as far as it can, the government proposes to go ahead with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group stages of the process simultaneously. With time fast running out, the government has conveyed this to the adamant Left allies even as it has sought to reassure them that the 123 agreement would not be signed till the sense of the House is taken and the Cabinet ratifies it, sources said.

The new-found urgency on the deal has to do with the international deadline till the end of June to get the agreement to the US Congress fast approaching in view of the coming American presidential elections. "The next two steps -- the International Atomic Energy Agency and Nuclear Suppliers Group -- should be taken as far as possible. Just because we can't go all the way, we cannot stop," a senior Congress leader said.

The heightened pitch on the deal comes at a time when the Left parties, extending outside support to the government, are sticking to their stand to withdraw support, which could lead to early Lok Sabha polls. The government is facing a catch-22 situation as it readies to take a political call next week on the deal, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as being in national interest. "The feeling is that if we give up the deal at this stage for saving the government, we may be dubbed as power-hungry," the leader said.

Increased significance is also being lent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's recent speech at a rally in Guwahati, where she strongly advocated the nuclear deal in view of the country's energy shortage.

However, the Congress as also its allies would want to ensure that if they decide to go ahead with the deal despite the Left opposition, the timing of the elections favours them. Among the various aspects that are being discussed is whether early elections will favour the ruling combine.

A view is that a good monsoon would yield a bumper harvest and arrest the galloping inflation so that polls even as early as November-December this year would not be such a bad idea for them. An election right now might not suit the Congress-led coalition parties as the aam aadmi was facing the heat of petroleum price hike, which has a cascading effect on the prices of essential commodities.

Another leader said the party should see the writing on the wall that advanced elections have not favoured several governments in the past, where the Congress lost. "We will not gain anything out of going ahead with the deal as we will not be able to make any point. The time has already run out for us to do the deal," he said. But a counterpoint to this is also being offered in the party, with the view being that the deal, even if it is not completed under the present US regime, can be taken up by the next government even if the Democrats come to power.

Congress sources explained that the reason behind the postponement of Wednesday's meeting of the United Progressive Alliance-Left committee on the nuclear deal was that the government wanted to thrash out various issues involved and weigh the options it had before the panel met again.

"The meeting was postponed because we need more time to arrive at something. There is the hope that the Left may give us some concession even now as it has done earlier by allowing us to go to the IAEA for negotiations," another party leader said.

All India Congress Committee media department chairman M Veerappa Moily said the deal involved 40 countries and India simply could not shut its door. "The question is whether this country can go limping on energy issue," he said and hoped that the Left will realize the significance of the deal.

Meanwhile, the government's move to go ahead with the deal gathered momentum, with key allies like the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Lok Janashakti Party backing it, but the Left sticking to its stand that it would withdraw support to the government.