September 20, 2007	Thursday	Ramazan 07, 1428

NEW DELHI: The Indian government and its communist allies said on Wednesday they had constructive talks to resolve their row over a nuclear deal with the United States but more negotiations were needed to try and find a solution.

Their comments came after a second meeting of a panel formed to address concerns of the left parties, whose opposition to the historic deal has destabilised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition and triggered fears of early general elections.

The panel, consisting of senior government leaders and communist representatives, was formed last month after the left parties warned the government of “serious consequences” if it did not dump the pact.

“We had discussions on a number of issues raised in the notes circulated by both sides,” Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said after the talks at his residence. “The discussions were constructive and will continue.”

The next meeting of the panel is set for Oct 5, he said.

Communist leaders also said the talks were constructive but added that they were “without any conclusion”.

Opposition to the deal by the communists, whose support is key to the survival of Singh’s coalition, has led to the worst political crisis since the government was formed in 2004 and sparked fears of a general election before it is due in 2009.

The deal aims to give India access to American nuclear fuel and equipment to help meet its soaring energy needs even though it has tested nuclear weapons and not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

AMERICAN PRESSURE: But communists say it hurts India’s sovereignty and exposes the country’s foreign policy to Washington’s influence. They have threatened to end their support if the government pursues negotiations needed to secure global approvals for the deal.

The panel held its first meeting last week and the two sides subsequently exchanged notes, with the government replying to concerns raised by the communists.

Ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, communist leaders had said that the defence of the government on some key issues was weak and the left was not expected to soften its position.

On Tuesday, Prakash Karat, chief of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the largest communist party, urged the government not to pursue the deal for six months and warned of a “political crisis” if it went ahead.

While the Indian government has not reacted to that demand, US officials have reaffirmed that time was running out on the deal as Washington would be preoccupied with presidential elections next year.

“They are trying to put pressure on us,” said A.B. Bardhan, head of the Communist Party of India, the second largest of the four left parties who together have 60 MPs in the 545-member lower house of parliament.

“They have their own timeframe, we have our own, but the government should not succumb to them,” he said.

Government leaders say they hope to convince the communists and allay their concerns through the panel. But analysts are not confident as left leaders seem to remain adamant.—Reuters