New Delhi, March 2
Amid continued nudging by the US to conclude the civil nuclear deal at the earliest, the government is expected to spell out its plans on the issue tomorrow in Parliament when external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee makes a statement.
Mukherjee, who will be making the statement on ‘Foreign policy issues’, was expected to speak about the government's intent on the deal and the progress made in this regard, sources told PTI today.
He will indicate the status of the negotiations with the IAEA on the safeguards agreement, which is a key step under the Indo-US nuclear deal. Negotiators of India and the IAEA concluded the fifth round of talks on the safeguards agreement on Thursday and reported “considerable progress” towards the agreed text.
It is, however, not clear how far the two sides have been able to resolve the differences over issues like India’s right to build strategic fuel reserve and acknowledgement of its military nuclear programme by the global atomic watchdog. The US has been pressing India to conclude the agreement with the IAEA at the earliest, with Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns setting the March-end deadline for it.
Contending that it was now or never for India to get such a deal, Washington has been maintaining that if the agreement does not come before the US Congress by May-end or early June, it would be difficult to get it passed because of lack of time in the Presidential election year.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently told a group of influential US Senators here that there were “difficulties”, apparently referring to the Left parties’ stiff opposition to operationalisation of the deal.
The Left parties have warned the government of serious consequences if it operationalised the deal and have demanded that the agreement with the IAEA be signed only after it was approved by them.
The external affairs minister is also expected to talk about the status of ties with Russia and France in the backdrop of recent visits by their leaders here. An update on ties with China is also expected to be briefed.
Mukherjee is also likely to refer to Pakistan, where a change of guard is in the offing after general elections. He is likely to spell out India's approach towards the country in view of the latest developments.
He is also expected to speak on the relationship with other countries like Nepal, where crucial Constitutional Assembly elections are scheduled next month.
— PTI
