UPA-Left panel on N-deal to meet on Sept 11

New Delhi, Sep 10: The UPA-Left panel set up to address Left parties concerns over the Indo-US nuclear deal will hold its first formal meeting here tomorrow to decide on the modalities of the joint mechanism, a key member of the panel disclosed here today.

''The first formal meeting of the 15-member panel to evaluate the implications of the 123 Agreement will take place at 1630 hrs in the South Block chambers of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee,'' CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury told a press conference.

Mr Yechury, who along with Mr Mukherjee had played a pivotal role in setting up the panel, said the meeting would decide how the mechanism should proceed to remove the concerns raised by the Left parties regarding the implications of the nuke deal for country's independent foreign policy.

Replying to a specific query, the senior communist leader said ''The UPA-Left panel is just not an eyewash as it was being made out to be. It is the duty of the government that it must take into account the concerns of the Left parties on whose support depends the very survival of the government.'' Party Floor leaders Basudeb Acharia and Rup Chand Pal were also present at the news conference.

Referring to BJP's demand for constituting a Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the pact ''opposed by the majority in both the houses'', Mr Yechury said, ''The BJP's demand for a JPC is out of the domain of this panel, which is essentially a political one -- between the government and the supporting parties.'' It would be the endeavour of the panel to explore ways and means for evolving a consensus over the issue.

The senior CPI(M) leader declined to comment over the ''direction'' of the negotiations and the ''outcome'', saying ''it is too early''.

The Left parties have been demanding stalling of operationalisation of the 123 Agreement, claiming it would draw India into a strategic partnership with the US and raised apprehensions that it would hinder an independent foreign policy and right to conduct nuclear tests.

UNI