Safeguards agreement would autopilot deal: Left to Govt

New Delhi, Jun 26 (UNI) The Left parties have disputed the Government contention that the Indo-US nuclear deal would not be autopiloted with the safeguards agreement with the IAEA, and that India will still have its say with the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

In a note presented to the UPA government at their yesterday's coordination committee meeting, the Left contended that after going to the IAEA, it would be the US which would take the waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which would 'auto pilot' the deal. They said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also told the same to Parliament.

The note, copies of which were released to the media today, also pointed to the understanding that the findings of the committee would be taken into account before the deal was operationalised.

The Manmohan Singh government in its May 6 meeting of the UPA-Left coordination committee had urged the Left parties not to object to the safeguards agreement, arguing that even after ratification by IAEA Board of Governors, the 123 Agreement would not be operationalised.

The note, which was jointly prepared by the CPI, CPI(M), Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party, sought to point out that last September the US in an informal meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group had presented a ''decisional Draft'' and later brought an amended draft too.

All the four parties feel that along with the IAEA Board of Governors' endorsement of the safeguards agreement, the informal process going on in the NSG would become formal, so they cannot approve the UPA government move to go ahead with the proposed agreement.

UNI RA NAZ CS RAI2053