Pranab meets Prakash Karat to push N-deal

{image-INDO---NUKE DEAL_17062008.jpg news.oneindia.in}New Delhi, June 17: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met CPI-M leader Prakash Karat for half an hour Monday night and sought the Lefts support in finalising an India-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA - a crucial step in the conclusion of its nuclear deal with the United States.

Mukherjee, who heads the 15-member United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-Left nuclear panel, had a one-hour talk with Karat during which he reiterated the governments request to allow them to finalise the safeguards agreement that is applicable only to India before International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed El Baradei completes his term in July, well placed sources confirmed. Mukherjee is believed to have told Karat that the communists' apprehension that finalising the IAEA pact would put the politically contentious agreement on auto pilot is wrong. The UPA-Left panel holds a crucial meeting Wednesday.

OneIndia News