The UPA-Left stand-off on the Indo-US nuclear deal notwithstanding, the Indian atomic energy department is holding consultations with IAEA for working out a safeguards agreement.

“Since the process has to go on, we are holding consultations. We cannot wait till the last moment to make the agreed text ready, which is a  pre-requisite for the draft agreement,” a top source at the department of atomic energy said.

The sources said, “With intricacies involved in the negotiations on the safeguards issues, it is expected that several things have to be taken up simultaneously. Thus, we have to go ahead with the continuous discussions/negotiations with the agency officials,” the sources said. In September, during the IAEA general conference, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar could not formally take up any negotiations on the safeguards agreement.

This was  due to the political situation in India, although a  few rounds of informal talks were carried out, sources said.