Yechuri wants Govt to come clear on nuke deal

Ahmedabad, Oct 27: Sitaram Yechury, CPI (M) Polit Bureau member, today expressed hope that the Congress-led UPA government would come clear on the Indo-US nuclear deal and Left parties would hold the next round of meeting with the government on this issue on November 16.

''We have had a series of meetings with the UPA on this issue. We are going to hold the fourth and final round of meeting with the government on November 16, till then the Centre has assured us that it shall not operationalise the nuclear deal,'' Mr Yechuri told reporters.

''Besides the Indo-US nuclear deal, we also want the government to scrap or to press the pause button on Indo-US Logistics Support Agreement,'' said Mr Yechuri, who was here to participate in a panel discussion on Indo-US nuclear deal at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Talking about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh being upset with the Left parties on this issue, Mr Yechuri said that what the Prime Minister felt was his personal matter and it had nothing to do with the issue.

Mr Yechuri said, ''Our opposition to the deal is justified, since the nuclear deal was never a part of the common minimum programme of the UPA government, nor was it a part of the Congress party's manifesto during the Parliamentary elections. It just came like a bolt from the blue for us.'' ''Suppose America attacks Iran, under this agreement, we will have to support American aircraft and ships. This is not in our national interest,'' he said.

The Left has always argued that the US will use the nuclear deal to make India a junior ally and pursue their strategic interest in South Asia.

UNI