The junior partners, who had become quite vocal on the “unilateral” decision making by big brother CPM, have said they would openly oppose the proposal of allowing Manmohan Singh government to proceed with the IAEA negotiations.

Several senior Left leaders from the RSP and Forward Bloc had pointed out that the government was seeking to “trap” the Left parties by saying that the IAEA gatepass was required to trade with other nuclear fuel supplying countries like Russia.

“And that was why the UPA leaders in Tuesday’s joint committee meeting were desperate in getting the approval of the Left parties in going ahead with the negotiations with the Board of Governors of the world body,” a senior Left leader told Deccan Herald.

45-day notice

“The UPA leaders said given the fact that 45 days’ notice is required for proceeding with the 123 Agreement in the IAEA and the Bush administration would not be in a position to take any decision after a couple of months, there is no way India can proceed ahead with the 123 Agreement and it should be considered a closed chapter,” the Left leader said.

“But they also insisted that the IAEA gatepass is also required for getting nuclear energy from other countries like Russia, France and China and thus the Left parties should allow the government to go ahead with the negotiations,” he said.

The Left parties had been opposing the 123 Agreement on the grounds that conditions laid down by the Hyde Act would impinge on India pursuing an independent foreign policy and make it subservient to US strategic interests worldwide.