Left parties reiterate opposition to the nuclear deal

[Press statement jointly issued by Prakash Karat, A.B. Bardhan, Debabrata Biswas and Abani Roy]

The leaders of the Left parties met on August 20, 2007 at New Delhi. They  discussed the political situation prevailing since the Indo-US bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement.  They have issued the following statement:

1. The Left parties reiterate their stand taken on August 7, 2007 that in view of the widespread opposition to the agreement and the fact that a majority in Parliament is against it, the government should not proceed further with the agreement.
2. The Left parties wish to state that this would require not taking the next step of negotiations for the safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
3. The Left  parties can understand the setting up of a committee or any other mechanism which can go into the objections regarding the agreement and evaluating the implications of the Hyde Act for the nuclear cooperation deal. But this can follow only when the next step at the IAEA is not taken.
4. The Left parties appeal to all the parties in the UPA to see the reasonableness of the stand taken which is fully in the spirit of our parliamentary democracy and the government's commitment to the country's welfare.  The Left parties await the response of the Congress leadership and the UPA to their proposal.