Nuclear deal: Karat meets Pranab, Antony

New Delhi, Jun 20 (UNI) In a fresh bid to defuse the crisis arising out of the Left's threat to withdraw support from the UPA government over the nuclear deal, senior CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat this evening met External Affairs Minister Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, who was leaving for a visit to Australia tomorrow to hold discussions on various issues, including nuclear energy.

Australia is a key member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and its nod is essential for the implementation of the Indo-US nuclear agreement.

Defence Minister A K Antony was also in the meeting held at the residence of Mr Mukherjee.

While threatening to part company with the UPA if it decided to go to Vienna for talks on a safeguards agreement with the IAEA, the Left parties also continued their efforts to build pressure on the allies of the government to stop it from going ahead with the "disastrous" move.

UNI NAZ HS RN2023