Government today made it clear to the Left parties that time may be running out and it was necessary for it to start negotiations with bodies like IAEA for operationalising the Indo-US nuke deal.
The government position was made clear at the third meeting of the UPA-Left Committee where the communist parties continued to strongly oppose the pact.
Left sources said Government maintained that no formal talks were on with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or anyone but hinted that informal discussions could be on by saying unless it talked to them how can we know what will be the agreement.
This meeting was the third after the committee was set up to go into the concerns and reservations expressed by the Left parties who are opposed to the deal.
Left sources said they strongly opposed the Government going ahead with operationalising the deal, including any negotiations with the IAEA for reaching a safeguards agreement.
In Mumbai, the Atomic Energy Department clarified that it is not holding any formal negotiations with the IAEA for drafting a safeguards agreement.
A brief statement read out by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee at the end of the two-hour-long meeting said the discussions were held in a cordial atmosphere and will resume on October nine.
"All members of the Committee took part in the meeting. The meeting carried forward the earlier discussions on the basis of inputs provided by both sides," he said.
The Left parties also wanted the Committee's meetings to be concluded early and until that time next steps should not be taken to operationalise the deal.
