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New Delhi: With the Left opposing the India-US nuclear deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday told UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohammad Al Baradei that his government may have to wait for a while before taking a decision on starting negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Singh told Al Baradei during the meeting lasting over an hour that New Delhi would take a political call on beginning negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after exploring all possible efforts to bring the Left on board, an official source said.
The issue will dominate the next meeting of the ruling coalition with its Left allies, scheduled for October 22, which will closely examine the impact of the nuclear deal on India's foreign policy.
Al Baradei appreciated the government's compulsions, but conveyed to the prime minister that clinching a safeguards agreement would not be difficult given the earlier agreement with the UN nuclear agency for four of India's civil nuclear reactors.
He also left it to the prime minister to decide the timing of the negotiations with the IAEA, saying he would wait for the political dust to settle down before India approaches the UN agency for the India-specific safeguards agreement for its civil nuclear reactors.
Month's time
India needs to clinch safeguards agreement with the IAEA in another month's time so that the US can press the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for rule change to clear global nuclear commerce with New Delhi.
With the leading ruling allies, including Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party and DMK, making it clear that they don't want an early election on the issue of the nuclear deal, the government may opt for survival rather than risk its existence.
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