National Security Adviser to meet SP leaders on nuke deal

New Delhi, Jul 01 (UNI) In a significant development, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan will meet Samajwadi Party leaders tomorrow to brief them on the safeguards agreement with the IAEA, an indication the Samajwadi Party might finally decide to support the Congress on the controversial deal which has plunged the UPA government into crisis ten months ahead of Lok Sabha polls, slated for May next year.

The Samajwadi party, which had initially opposed the deal, had of late been maintaining that it was ready to change its stand if some new facts were brought up to assure it that the deal would not harm national interest.

The SP General Secretary Amar Singh today told reporters after a meeting with CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat that a meeting will take place between Samajwadi party leaders and Mr Natayanan tomorrow for clarification on certain aspects of the deal.

Though the SP has been saying that it would take a final decision only after the United National Progressive Alliance(UNPA) meeting here on July three, it is more than clear that the party had almost finalised its views on the issue.

Mr Singh gave further justification of his party's probable support for the Congress by underlining how the BSP was joining hands with communal forces like the BJP'.

The support of the SP with 39 MPs would be very crucial for the Congress-led UPA in in the Lok Sabha in case the Left parted ways with the latter over the issue. The Left combine has 59 in the 288 of the UPA.

The Congress wants to be sure of the SP support for the deal before the Prime Minister leaves for Japan to attend the G-8 summit where he would meet US President George Bush, and it is understood that he would like to take a final decision on the issue before that.

He has set a deadline of July 15 to finalise an India-specific nuclear safeguards treaty with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

UNI NAZ RL AS1453