Yet another meeting of the top government representatives and Left leaders has ended without a conclusive verdict on the fate of the contentious Indo-US nuclear deal. Fortunately for the Manmohan Singh Government, nobody is really talking about a rigid deadline any longer for clinching the deal that is now stuck at the IAEA doorsteps. The absence of a firm deadline does not mean the Singh government has the luxury of time to firm up the deal at its convenience. It is precisely for this reason that the government and Left leaders will meet again by the month-end. The government would certainly want its Left partners to give their political clearance in that meeting to push the deal through in the IAEA since the annual meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors is scheduled in the first week of June. This way, it is still following a limited May end deadline to get the Left endorsement to cross the IAEA hurdle.

It remains a million dollar question if the Left parties will oblige the government. There are already suggestions that the deal is on its way to a slow death. While there are reasons for such a pessimistic view about the deal’s future, there is nothing either from the government or the Left to indicate that they are preparing for the deal’s last rites. The other day, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the government’s chief negotiator with Left leaders on the nuclear deal, publicly argued that the Left parties would not be dropping their hitherto reservations about the deal if they allowed the government to take the deal-making process through the IAEA and then the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group.

Erring perhaps on the side of caution, Left leaders have so far avoided giving their view on Mukherjee’s proposal. This has allowed the government to continue to entertain hopes of breaking the stalemate. This apart, a final word about the government’s thinking on the deal’s future is yet to be heard – if it still remains as committed to clinching it even if that meant making the last decisive push with or without the requisite political consensus at home. Top officials have suggested that the country cannot afford to allow the deal to die because it could never be resurrected in its present shape. It is to be seen if the political leadership too subscribes to this view. Perhaps the Manmohan Singh government might speak its mind after its next meeting with Left leaders.