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New Delhi: The contentious Indo-US nuclear deal has started dividing the ruling coalition and its allies.
While there is a difference of opinion among partners of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the difference has become visible even within the Left Front that has been opposed to the deal.
The debate going around within the UPA is whether it would be politically prudent to sacrifice the government over the nuclear deal and go in for early polls.
"The nuclear deal is almost off. Nobody wants early elections, especially the UPA allies," said federal minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti Party.
However, the general opinion within the Congress party is to overlook the Left criticism and opposition from the allies and sign the deal after negotiations with the IAEA are completed. The chances of meeting the May deadline by some members of the US Senate, however, appear remote.
"They have set deadlines earlier too. It doesn't work like this. We should not be concerned with the deadlines. We are a democratic nation and heading a coalition government," said veteran Congress party leader Veerappa Moily, adding that the nuclear deal would be on terms set by India.
Congress lawmaker Ajit Jogi said, "We will find a way where they will keep criticising us and we will go ahead and sign it."
The most interesting aspect of the nuclear deal was a casual revelation by the junior foreign minister Anand Sharma. He claims Buddhdev Bhattacharya, chief minister of the Marxist ruled West Bengal, is keen on having nuclear power reactor in his state.
According to him, the government is making efforts to build consensus with the allies and assured that the national interest would be uppermost while taking a final decision on the issue.
Some Left leaders admit privately that they are not against the deal itself but their opposition to it is due to their ideological problem.
"We do not want to be seen aligning with [US President] George Bush in the eyes of the electorate. While we may distance ourselves from the UPA, chances of we causing an early election are remote," a Left Front leader said.
Washington (AP) The chief US negotiator of a nuclear agreement with India said it will be impossible to complete this year unless India quickly makes a "courageous decision" to endorse it.
President George W. Bush, who leaves office next January, considers the pact a major accomplishment of his administration.
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said on Thursday that a dispute within the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's governing coalition is jeopardising an agreement that benefits both nations.
"I'm afraid it's time for the government to decide. We hope the decision will be positive," said Burns, who is retiring from the State Department next week.
"If India is to be given this great victory, which is so clearly in the Indian national interest, there has to be a courageous decision made by the government."
Burns headed the US negotiating team that agreed after 2 1/2 years on the final US-Indian document that would give India access to US civilian nuclear technology and fuel.
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