UPA-Left panel meet today to thaw N-tension

New Delhi: The 15-member UPA-Left panel on the Indo-US nuclear deal will meet for the first time on Tuesday. The panel was formed after the Left threatened to withdraw support unless its concerns were addressed.

The first meeting comes a day after the Monsoon Session of Parliament ended on Monday as the Opposition continued with its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the nuclear deal.

At Tuesday's meeting, members are expected to work out the modalities on how to go about analysing the fineprint of the nuclear deal and the contentious Hyde Act.

Nuclear experts are also expected to present their views before the panel headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Left parties, the key outside supporters of the coalition, have upped their ante warning the government of "serious consequences" if it operationalised the 123 Agreement.

Asked what the final outcome would be if the committee could not evolve a consensus, Yechury said, "Our effort will be to see whether any common ground can be worked out between the stands of the Left and the government and also whether some steps can be taken to safeguard India's sovereignty and national interests.”

He said as per its terms of reference, the committee would deliberate on the 123 Agreement and the Prime Minister's assurances in Parliament. "We feel two or three of his assurances are not being fulfilled in the agreement," he said.

The top CPI-M leader said the implications of the Hyde Act on India's security and an independent foreign policy would also be deliberated upon by the committee.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been emphasising the need for growing demand for energy for the country telling that New Delhi 'cannot afford to miss the nuclear bus'.

The meeting comes a week ahead of the IAEA General Council meeting in Vienna, which is being attended by Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar.

The Left parties have already warned that India should not start negotiations on India-specific safeguards agreement in the IAEA to operationalise the deal, but could participate in the deliberations as a member-country.

The government has already made it clear that the operationalisation of the deal would take into account the findings of the committee.