RSS organ suggests PM to save face by calling off nuke deal

New Delhi, May 11 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should either call off the protracted negotiations with the Left on the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement or back out from the deal instead of making himself an object of ridicule before the comity of nations, the RSS mouthpiece Organiser said.

In the editorial headlined ''What a farce on this deal'' in its latest edition, the Organiser said it was not clear if the Left had succeeded in nuking the Indo-US nuclear deal.

''But External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee indicates that the deal is dead. And the Prime Minister the same day claims that the deal is still alive. UPA has only to blame its timidity for this sorry state of affairs.'' The problem being that the UPA was not willing to stake its power to save the deal, the weekly said, adding this the Left knew better and was blackmailing the government on every step.

As a coalition government, the UPA had not ''crowned itself in glory'' the way it handled national affairs, it said.

Under the UPA, the Organiser said India had not been able to leverage its diplomatic status because of the Left leg pulling.

''The regional super power looks isolated in the region. It has not made friends outside the region. Its position is so weak that it gives the impression of playing the US tune, kowtowing and appeasing China, getting snubbed by Russia, opposing the Iran nuclear adventurism even as it tries to offer an olive branch to that country all at the same time. Has it enhanced India's standing on the international level?'' it asked.

The RSS mouthpiece further said the Left was expected to get back on May 28 with its reactions to the government's negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

''The government is afraid that time is running out -- the US has put a June deadline -- and it believes that the safeguards India is likely to get through the 123 agreement are the best it can hope for.

''But that is not the worry of the Left. It has to take care of the geopolitical interests of China. The CPI(M) has repeatedly shown that its policy approaches are dictated by extra-territorial considerations. And the UPA has become a tool for the CPI(M) shenanigans. This has greatly eroded the authority of the government. No international treaty could be held hostage to domestic power play in this fashion.'' MORE UNI AG SB CS1100