AICC media department chairman Veerappa Moily said this soon after CPM leader Prakash Karat sent a letter to the government demanding a meeting of the UPA-Left joint mechanism by March 15.

“It is not Congress agenda, it is national agenda. We do not see it as either or… I think the nuclear deal has to happen,”  Moily said here.

Commenting on Karat’s letter to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his capacity as the joint mechanism convenor, Mr Moily said, “We are not finding any fault with the letter. We are just asking whether they (the Left) want a Constitutional crisis as we will lose pride in the league of nations if we backtrack.”

The senior Congress leader  said the UPA government had achieved much more than what the NDA government had almost agreed upon.

He pointed out that never before in history India has withdrawn from any international treaty.

“NDA had agreed for 50 per cent of what we have achieved. Do they (the Left) want all hard work of diplomacy go in vain?” he asked, refusing to describe Mr Karat’s letter as a “threat” or “ultimatum”.

He said the UPA government has taken every step with regard to the nuclear deal after developing consensus with the Left. Moily added that all doubts raised by the allies were being cleared in the joint mechanism.

“The deal was much beyond an India-US agreement, as it would lead India entering into an agreement with 42 countries,” he said.

“We have not surrendered anything, but they have conceded more. We are not bound to buy fuel from the US only,” he added.

“What do they want to achieve by opposing the deal? Do they want that our nuclear power plants suffer and our farmers, industries and consumers suffer for want of power?” Moily said.