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Indian minister rejects snap polls amid US nuke deal trouble
New Delhi (AFP) March 8, 2008 India's foreign minister Saturday ruled out early polls after new threats by the government's communist allies to withdraw their support if the ruling party concludes a nuclear pact with Washington. Describing the leftist bloc's warning as a "known position," Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said: "I do not visualise that anybody is thinking of early elections. "None of the coalition partners or coalition supporters are talking of early elections," Mukherjee told NDTV news channel when asked about the possibility of snap polls, saying the government wanted elections "in due time". National elections are due in just over a year and neither the minority Congress-led coalition nor their communist allies, who provide crucial support in parliament, have been eager for early polls. Congress has suffered a string of drubbings in state polls, while the communists are in trouble in their strongholds of West Bengal and Kerala. But analysts say Congress may be preparing to face the electorate sooner rather than later by presenting a budget last month that included a 15-billion-dollar loan bailout for farmers and income tax cuts. A key point of discord between Congress and the communists has been the US-India nuclear pact, which seeks to bring India into the loop of global nuclear civilian commerce after a decades-long gap. The communists oppose the deal, saying it will compromise New Delhi's military programme and ally it more closely with the United States. India's government rejects the claims and says the pact is needed to provide new fuel sources to keep the energy-hungry nation's economy growing strongly. India needs approval from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to place its civilian nuclear reactors under UN safeguards. It also needs the green light from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which regulates global civilian nuclear trade, before it can begin buying nuclear reactors and fuel. Key US senators and top officials have stepped up pressure on New Delhi to speed up these steps so the pact can get final approval from the US Congress, where it has bipartisan support, before the US presidential polls in November. Mukherjee said Saturday that New Delhi had concluded talks with the IAEA and that the government would discuss the next steps with the communists. In a speech to parliament earlier this week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he would try to build a consensus on the deal. But the Left allies appeared unconvinced. Top Marxist leader Prakash Karat has asked Mukherjee for an "urgent" meeting on March 15 of a joint panel constituted last year to iron out differences over the pact. Karat's colleague, Sitaram Yechury, Saturday again urged the government to drop the deal "if the committee says it is not correct." Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Civil Nuclear Energy Science, Technology and News Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
Ontario to add more nuclear muscle to energy mix
Ottawa (AFP) March 7, 2008Canada's Ontario province announced Friday plans to build its first new nuclear reactor in decades to meet its burgeoning energy needs and reduce its carbon emissions. |
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