The CPI on Sunday said the US could not apply pressure tactics on India for pushing through the nuclear deal.Reacting to US Ambassador to India David Mulford’s remarks in an interview, CPI MP D Raja said India was a sovereign nation having a vibrant Parliament and could not be hustled into taking any decision under pressure. He said the US Ambassador’s remarks that if the deal was not processed in the present Congress it would not be offered to India again amounted to “intimidation”. Raja said India was developing its own nuclear technology and looking for alternative sources like uranium and thorium. The Forward Block also accused Mulford of “threatening” India on the and said India should not sign any deal that was US-specific. All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) general secretary Debrabrata Biswas told reporters in Chennai that his party would withdraw support to the UPA Government if it operationalised the 123 agreement.Meanwhile, in a statement that could trigger a debate in Left circles, Kerala Chief Minister and CPI(M) Politburo member V S Achuthanandan on Saturday said re-unification of the CPI(M) and CPI in future could not be ruled out. Reacting to reporters’ query at Kozhikode on recent statements from CPI leaders on the need to strengthen the Communist unity, he said such a possibility could not be discounted completely.
