India’s ruling Congress party has decided to press ahead with a nuclear energy deal with the US despite threats by its left-wing allies to bring down the coalition, officials said yesterday.
Faced with losing its majority in parliament because of communist opposition to the pact, the Congress party of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been trying to strike a deal with other parties that would keep it in office.
Indian media said the socialist Samajwadi Party (SP), from the key northern state of Uttar Pradesh and which has 39 members of parliament in the 545-member national parliament, has signaled a deal on reshaping the coalition was close.
“We are talking to a number of parties, including the Samajwadi Party to secure support,” said a senior Congress leader, who wished to remain unnamed.
“The meeting between SP leaders and the national security advisor yesterday [Wednesday] was part of this. We are going ahead with the deal,” he said.
Though the Samajwadi Party did not offer a clear pledge of support to Singh’s administration on Wednesday, it was expected to make a formal announcement after consultations yesterday.
The nuclear deal — agreed in principle in 2005 — would allow India to buy atomic power plants and technology despite not signing international non-proliferation pacts.
Indian Prime Minister Singh argues the pact is crucial for India’s energy security.
Tensions between Singh and the communists have been running high for months, and the likelihood of early elections — ahead of May next year as scheduled — has been seen as increasing after a crisis meeting last week between Congress and the left.
The US has been pressing India to move on the deal before the end of President George W. Bush’s tenure, warning the pact may not survive in its current form under the next administration.
New Delhi still needs to negotiate an accord with the International Atomic Energy Agency to allow inspections of its atomic plants and earn a waiver from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group before it can enter the global nuclear trade.
Political analysts predicted that Congress would be able to muster the numbers to survive and carry the pact forward besides putting off early polls.
“The SP has been saying the main challenge is to keep communal forces at bay,” political analyst and author Rasheed Kidwai said.
“This means they would like to ensure that the Congress government survives and keep the [opposition Hindu nationalist] Bharatiya Janata Party out. Also, they asked the prime minister to clarify some issues about the deal, which has been done,” Kidwai said.
Columnist Neerja Choudhury said that the move by Congress to court groups like the Samajwadi Party underlined the party’s determination to push through the deal.
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