Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee met veteran Communist leader Jyoti Basu at his house on Sunday and briefed him about the proceedings of the UPA-Left coordination committee held on October 5 in New Delhi to discuss the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and CPI(M) State Committee Secretary Biman Bose were also present at the meeting.

“The reason behind the meeting was to brief Basu about the October 5 meet on the Indo-US nuclear deal and also to enquire about his health,” Mukherjee told The Indian Express. “I told him that the CPI(M) should soften its stand and should at least allow us to go ahead with our talks with the IAEA. Meanwhile, we can keep talking in Delhi and we will go by what the committee recommends,” said Mukherjee, who is playing a crucial role in defusing the crisis the UPA Government is in. Mukherjee, who said nobody wanted an early poll, added that a lot depended on the next meet to be held on October 9.

Later in Guwahati, Mukherjee said India is going ahead with its efforts to establish better connectivity between the Northeast and the South-East Asian countries and the BSNL is already engaged in an optical fibre connectivity project between the two sides. He, however, did not comment on the Myanmar situation.