Congress claims incremental progress in nuke deal

New Delhi, Nov 29 (UNI) The Congress today said it could not set a timeline for the operationalisation of the Indo-US Nuclear deal, but it was confident that it would succeed in carrying forward the allies of the ruling UPA coalition and the supporting Left parties on the issue.

"No timeline can be set now, but we are making incremental progress,"AICC spokesman Abishek Manu Singhvi told mediapersons here, adding that "we are on schedule." He said the negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA) for India-specific safeguards agreement would lead to the next logical step.

Asked about the reaction of the party to the change in the stand of the Samajwadi Party and the Telugu Desam Party towards the deal, as expressed by its members during the debate in the Lok Sabha on the deal yesterday, Dr Singhvi said, "It is a good thing that other parties also agree to it." In this context, Dr Singhvi asserted that there was no change in the stand of the Congress that the deal was good for the country.

Asked what was the stand of the Congress vis-a-vis the attacks against ethnic Indians in Malaysia, he said it was a matter of deep concern for India if people of Indian origin were affected anywhere in the world.

"However, the methodology of raising the issue is in the domain of the Ministry of External Affairs," he added.

UNI