Govt plan to carry out IAEA and NSG stages together
Seeking to take the Indo-US nuclear deal as far as it can, the Govt proposes to go ahead with the IAEA and NSG stages of the process simultaneously.
Seeking to take the Indo-US nuclear deal as far as it can, the Government proposes to go ahead with the IAEA and NSG stages of the process simultaneously.
With time fast running out, the Government has conveyed this to the adamant Left allies even as it has sought to reassure them that the 123 agreement would not be signed till the sense of the House is taken and the Cabinet ratifies it, sources said.
The new-found urgency on the deal has to do with the international deadline of end of June to get the agreement to the US Congress fast approaching in view of the coming Presidential elections in the country.
"The next two steps -- the International Atomic Energy Agency and Nuclear Suppliers Group -- should be taken as far as possible. Just because we can't go all the way, we cannot stop," a senior Congress leader said.
The heightened pitch on the deal comes at a time when the Left parties, extending outside support to the Government, are sticking to their stand to withdraw support, leading to early Lok Sabha polls.
The Government is facing a Catch-22 situation as it readies to take a political call next week on the deal, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as being in national interest.
"The feeling is that if we give up the deal at this stage for saving the Government, we may be dubbed as power-hungry," the leader said.
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