February 21, 2008	Thursday	Safar 13, 1429

NEW DELHI, Feb 20: Three senior US senators, on their way home from Pakistan, met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Wednesday and set a May deadline for New Delhi to resolve all pending issues on the stalled nuclear deal.

US Senators Joe Biden, John Kerry, both Democrats, and Republican Senator Chuck Hagel told Dr Singh that time was slipping away for the Indo-US nuclear deal, as India remained locked in talks with the International Atomic Agency.

All three are important members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Mr Biden is the Chairman, Mr Kerry is the Chair of the sub-committee on South Asia and Mr Hagel is the second highest ranking Republican on the Committee.

The senators expressed concern that the next US president would most certainly renegotiate the proposal, especially if Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama came to power.

“It’s critical that if India wants this deal then it needs to move it in a matter of weeks, the clock is ticking, time is running out for this session of Congress and the next president will renegotiate the agreement,’’ Mr Biden said.

According to reports, Dr Singh made no comment on the May deadline but conveyed his party’s problems of keeping the coalition together. Left dismisses US deadline on nuclear deal.

The Left Front, which opposes the India-US deal, slammed the May deadline for operationalising the Indo-US nuclear deal, saying Washington was indulging in “pressure tactics and intimidation”. Reacting to the statement of three senators, leaders of the Left Front that lends crucial support to Dr Singh’s coalition government said New Delhi must not do anything in a hurry or disrespect the sense of Parliament, which was against the operationalisation of the accord.

CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said the Americans had no business to pressurise India on the issue since the deal was being debated in this country.

The ruling Congress party said the government would do what was in the best interest of the country and in consultation with its allies.