New Delhi: The Left parties have rejected the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement and asked the government not to proceed with operationalising it.
The Left parties that support the UPA Government from outside met on Tuesday to adopt a balanced ideological approach to the 123 Agreement.
After the meeting, they made clear their opposition to the pact. The parties also demanded a review of the strategic aspects of Indo-US relations in Parliament.
After 'careful assessment' of the text of 123 pact released on Friday and studying it in the 'context of burgeoning strategic alliance' with the US, the Left parties said they were 'unable to accept the agreement'.
"The Left calls upon the government not to proceed further with operationalising of the agreement," a statement issued by the four parties said. "There has to be review of the strategic aspect of Indo-US relations in Parliament," it said.
Caught between an inflexible BJP and the need to protect its own strong anti-US constituency, the Left parties had been holding discussions for sometime now to formulate their position on the nuclear deal.
BJP had earlier forced the Left to make their stand clear on the issue, saying it would like to know the reason behind the Left's 'silence' over the issue.
The parties had earlier gone on record, saying that the draft agreement somewhat falls in line with the commitments that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had made in the House.
They have, however, been complaining that the pact lacks clarity in certain aspects, especially technical, and that deal "appeared to aid furthering of interests of the US in the region."
Tuesday's meeting also discussed the performance of the Government and the issues that are to come up in the forthcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.
With the Left's rejection of the deal, the UPA Government at the Centre will now find it difficult to push ahead with the agreement.
The BJP has already rejected the deal and demanded that there should be a voting in Lok Sabha before signing the pact. The party has already given a notice in the Lok Sabha for a discussion on the deal under Rule 184 which entails voting. The Monsoon Session of Parliament begins on August 10.
"We have made the request to the Speaker to take a voting under Rule 184," BJP Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, said. The party has also demanded setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to examine the draft agreement.
The BJP says the deal would restrict India's nuclear testing programme once the civil nuclear deal becomes operational. Leaders of the so-called third front, including J Jayalalitha and former prime minister VP Singh too have rejected the nuclear deal, saying the norms of the agreement go against India's sovereignty.
The CPM has all along been maintaining that the growing military ties will eventually force India to become an inevitable part of the "US gameplan for the region."
Meanwhile, the four-party Left alliance have also decided to press for a constitutional amendment for bringing international treaties and certain bilateral agreements for approval in Parliament.
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