Under fire from different quarters for giving in to Left pressure on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the UPA government today sought to send out a message that the deal was not yet off.

As the Left demand for a written or formal assurance that the deal would be put on hold overshadowed the UPA-Left committee meeting, the Government only conceded that “operationalisation of the deal will take into account the committee’s findings”.

At a meeting of UPA leaders earlier in the day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had expressed disappointment over the U-turn by allies after being part of the Cabinet approval for the deal. Congress sources said that the PM felt let down and that he had conveyed his feelings to the allies. For the record, both the PMO and the party later claimed that this was “speculation” and there had been no such talk.

After today’s meeting it was clear that the UPA and Left were sticking to their stated positions. To the Left, operationalisation of the deal starts with the beginning of talks with the IAEA. The Government, on the other hand, maintains it begins only after the 123 Agreement comes into force.

Emerging from the meeting, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan said: “The fate of the deal is open-ended.”

While External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee reiterated the PM’s October 12 remark that the UPA was not a “one-issue” government, there was no assurance about the deal being put on hold, said sources.

The Congress, sources said, was keeping all options open till the next meeting of the committee on November 16.

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