Left stages 'Black Day' march against US-India nuke deal

New Delhi, Oct.4 : Left activists staged a'Black Day' demonstration here on Saturday in protest against the UPA Government's decision to move ahead with the US-India nuclear deal.

Led by senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and CPI leader D Raja, the activists marched towards the Hyderabad House here where External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were holding discussions but were prevented from reaching the venue.

Addressing the protestors, Yechury said the agitation was the "last warning" to the UPA government not to go ahead with the deal, which was "detrimental" to the sovereignty of the country and its independent foreign policy.

"We have heard that US President George W Bush has not signed the deal. It will be good for this country, if he does not sign the deal," he said.

Yechury said the agreement includes all "retrogade" provisions of the Hyde Act which puts "further" constraints on full civilian nuclear cooperation.

"There is no uninterrupted fuel supply assurance, no provision for strategic fuel reserve, no transfer of nuclear technology and steps to be taken against Iran," Left party leaders said.

The leaders said that any self-respecting government would have refused to sign the deal and operationalise it.

Meanwhile, Rice has said that there are a lot of administrative details that have to be worked out before the bilateral deal is finalised and operationalised.

"This (the deal) was only passed in our Congress two days ago. The President is looking forward to signing the bill, sometime, I hope, in very soon, because we'll want to use it as an opportunity to thank all of the people who have been involved in this," she said.

During her visit to the national capital, Rice will also call on Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani and on Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

ANI