Nuke deal: CPI makes case for 'political mechanism'

New Delhi, Aug 27 (UNI) The UPA and the Left parties today resumed dialogue to end the deadlock over the Indo-US nuclear deal with the CPI leaders demanding that the government set up a "political mechanism" to evaluate the Hyde Act and remove Left concerns and doubts.

"We harbour no opposition to the evolving of a political mechanism to break the impasse. But the government should refrain from operationalising the 123 Agreement," said CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan soon after the one and a half hour meeting with government interlocutor Pranab Mukherjee.

Mr Bardhan, who was accompanied by party senior leaders Gurudas Dasgupta and D Raja, told UNI that they emphasised on the " political mechanism" as the experts panel was not going to solve the problem.

The CPI leader said the technical experts and the diplomats could drop in occasionally.

Mr Bardhan said they reminded Mr Mukherjee that all the four Left parties in their August 20 meeting had also asserted that they were not opposed to the setting up of a committee or mechanism to evaluate the Hyde Act but only after the government decided not to take the next step.

''We have told Mr Mukherjee in today's meeting the same thing that the Left parties at that very meeting had made it categorically clear that the government should not proceed further with the next step of negotiations for the safeguards agreement with the IAEA,'' he said.

Defence Minister A K Antony and Ahmed Patel, Political Secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi were also present at the parleys, in which the ambit of the mechanism was also discussed.

The government has also to talk to the leaders of the CPI(M), Forward Bloc and RSP.

Mr Bardhan hoped that the final announcement would be made after the government finalises talks with all the Left parties.

The hectic parleys between the government and the Left parties to thrash out the UPA-Left logjam are almost certain to lead to the setting up of a political mechanism to evaluate the Hyde Act and its implications on India.

The mechanism will avail the services of the technical and diplomatic experts to be announced by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress core group brief her about the Left viewpoint, sources told UNI.

The Manmohan Singh government, which ... picking up from para five, line one of DI 31, NUCLEAR-LEFT-UPA.

UNI