NEW DELHI, 11 May 2008 — The India-US nuclear deal is practically dead with the Congress-led ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) not inclined to push it ahead at the cost of losing support of their leftist allies ahead of general elections. India made this clear to the United States when External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee talked to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice by telephone on Friday night.

With Washington keen on implementing the agreement as early as possible, Rice wanted to know whether any progress has been made in India. Mukherjee is understood to have apprised her of discussion held at the UPA-left meeting on the issue on Tuesday. The May 6 meeting ended with the left refusing to give UPA its assent on moving ahead with the deal. The next UPA-left meeting is scheduled for May 23.

The left remains suspicious of the Hyde Act, which in its view is not favorable to India from any angle. The government sought a green signal from the UPA-left committee to get approval of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s board of governors for safeguards agreement. The left, however, sought clarification on the issue. The meeting thus ended without any progress on the controversial deal.

In his talks with Rice, Mukherjee said that although India was making efforts to complete the process, hurdles remained because of stiff opposition from the leftists, sources said.

The United States has set a May-end deadline for the agreement to come back to Congress for the final vote. This has to be preceded by India finalizing safeguards agreement with the IAEA and securing exemption from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which are on hold due to opposition from the leftist parties. The leftists support the UPA government from outside.

The leftist parties have been against the nuclear deal right from the beginning. With only a year left for parliamentary elections, prospects of their changing their stand at the last minute may be regarded as nonexistent. The May 23 meeting is thus unlikely to take the deal forward.

Nuke Plant Opposed

Meanwhile, the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya yesterday rejected the federal government’s idea of setting up a nuclear power plant in the region and also opposed any move to allow uranium mining in the state.

“We have no such plans and will oppose any move to set up a nuclear power plant or mine uranium in the state,” Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Hopping Stone Lyngdoh told journalists.

Lyngdoh was reacting to a statement by Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh last week about forming a committee by the Director of Atomic Energy (DAE) to study the techno-economic feasibility of setting up a nuclear power plant in the region.

The minister during a two-day visit to Meghalaya last week held meetings with the chief minister to review the power position in the state, besides exploring possibilities of setting up a nuclear power plant. Meghalaya is rich in uranium ore.

According to surveys by DAE, there could be up to 375,000 tons of uranium in Meghalaya’s Domiasiat area, by far the largest and richest sandstone-type deposits in the country.

— With input from agencies