An Indian federal minister has said a special committee set up to deal with objections of the government's Left supporters on New Delhi's nuclear accord with the United States is not bound to accept the Left's concerns, CNN-IBN television station reported Wednesday.
Indian Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal also ruled out renegotiation of the deal. "Taking into account (the Left's concerns) never means you are bound by it," he said in an interview with the CNN-IBN.
India's Left parties, whose support is crucial to the survival of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition government, oppose the nuclear agreement with the United States because they believe it will undermine New Delhi's foreign policy and strategic options.
"We will talk about them (concerns of Left parties). We will try and deal with those concerns and when we come to a final decision, which we have to, we will take them into account," said Sibal, himself a member of the committee comprising representatives from both the Left and Singh's Congress party.
Left parties, he insisted, had never said the government was bound to accept their concerns on the deal.
