The Indo-US nuclear deal is headed for the cold storage. The confirmation of this worst-kept secret was provided by government interlocutors at the meeting of the UPA-Left co-ordination panel here on Tuesday. Sources in the Left said external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated that the wrangling over the deal here has already jeopardised the timeline for the operationalisation of the 123 Agreement. The IAEA governing body meeting in mid-May was supposed to take up the India-specific safeguards agreement. The die-hard optimists in the government were hoping to take the agreement to NSG at its meeting in Johannesburg on May 19. That this plan now stands aborted was clear when the panel decided to continue the powwows. The UPA-Left committee is now scheduled to meet on May 28.
Mr Mukherjee was candid in admitting the hurdles before the 123 Agreement. He told Left leaders that NAM countries reservations against non-NPT signatories getting access to nuclear fuel will embolden the nuclear Ayatollahs in Capitol Hill. The non-proliferation lobby has been making this point since 2005.
While the Left hopes that the exchange of notes and meetings at regular intervals will push the deal to its last breath, the government gets breathing time before it faces elections.
So, the most awaited pet project of PM Dr. Manmohan Singh, is virtually dead and buried.
So, the most awaited pet project of PM Dr. Manmohan Singh, is virtually dead and buried.
