No threat to UPA govt if drops support to nuke deal: Yechury

Agartala, Jan 6(UNI) CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said that there would be no threat to the UPA government if it would not go ahead with operationalisation of Indo-US nuclear deal.

Addressing a public rally organised by the Democratic Youth Federation of India(DYFI), Tripura unit, ahead of the state assembly election here today, Mr Yechury said, ''We have repeatedly stated that our concern is to stop operationalisation of the nuclear deal which is not in the interest of the nation.'' ''We let them discuss the matter at IAEA and the government was to clarify its latest position on the nuclear deal in the next meeting of the UPA-Left committee on the deal and said that the future depended a lot on that,'' Mr Yechury pointed out.

He, however, stated that the agreement would adversely affect India's long-term interests and would threaten the country's national sovereignty, as US motives were to enlist India as a 'junior partner'.

The Centre, succumbing under US pressure, was also discouraging the Essar group and other companies working in Iran, he stated and asserted that it had become all the more clear that the US was pursuing the nuclear deal as a strategy to increase its dominance in South Asia.

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