Left will not change its stand on Indo-US nuke deal: Bardhan

New Delhi, May 11 : The Left parties today re-asserted their opposition to the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, and made it clear to the ruling UPA Government that it will not allow the 123 Agreement to be operationalised in the present form.

The Left parties had been stalling that the Indo-US nuclear deal that seeks to re-open the doors of global civil nuclear commerce with India after a hiatus of three decades.

"We took the decision that there should not be any change in the stand which our party has taken and I hope all the Left parties are unanimous in their decision. We will not support the deal and we will not allow the government to operationalise it in the present form based on the 123 Agreement," said A B Bardhan, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India.

"We have noted that the government is pressing ahead, in fact it has stepped up its effort and is using many means," he told reporters here.

As a part of implementation of the Indo-US nuclear deal, India concluded negotiations with IAEA on the Safeguards Agreement in February, but it could not be signed because of stiff opposition from the Left parties.

The Left parties, which provide crucial outside support to the government, had stressed that the agreement should be signed only after they examining the pact.

A meeting of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the Left parties held recently failed to iron out the differences.

The Left has been opposing the deal on the grounds that the conditions laid down by the Hyde Act, a domestic US legislation, would impinge on India pursuing an independent foreign policy and make it "subservient" to US strategic interests worldwide.

The Left has objected to the 123 Agreement between the India and the US on civilian nuclear cooperation on the grounds that the Hyde Act binds it.

ANI