Unable to reconcile sharp differences over the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Congress and the Left parties on Wednesday bought more time to find a way out, deciding to finalise the findings of their committee on the issue ‘in due course’. After a 90-minute meeting, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee came out with a terse statement that discussions on all aspects of the deal have been completed and the next meeting of the committee to be convened in due course will finalise the findings. The meeting, which was postponed last week, took place amidst deepening stand-off between the two sides with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh keen on pushing forward the deal and the Left parties strongly objecting to it. The outside allies put forward their views in a three-page note. The two sides stuck to their positions at the meeting when the government explained the nuances of the process in IAEA for finalising an India-specific safeguards agreement. The Left parties have warned that should the government take the next step in the deal, they will have no alternative but to withdraw support. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the Government would take further steps on the deal only on the basis of findings of the committee. Sources said the next meeting of the committee, was expected to be held in July after the G-8 summit in Tokyo where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet US President George W Bush. However, some Left sources expressed doubts whether there will be another meeting at all in the light of Government's keenness to go ahead with the deal. They felt the time for discussions with Left parties was now over and the ball was in the Government's court. It has to take a political call on whether they want to break with the Left and go ahead with the deal, they said.
