Indian nuke panel to meet on 16th

NEW DELHI—A panel struggling to resolve India’s political crisis over a nuclear deal with the United States will meet this week, the government said on Tuesday, even as its communist allies said they remained opposed to the pact.
The panel, made up of members from the ruling coalition as well as communist parties which shore it up, would hold talks on Friday as originally scheduled, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters.
Last week, the government and the left parties had agreed to hold the meeting at a later date, likely after a parliament debate over the contentious deal. But no date was set for the debate during parliament’s session which opens on Nov. 15.
“I am quite confident that the situation will improve, we’ll find some way out,” Mukherjee said.
His comments came as senior left party leaders said they had not changed their position on the deal, and reaffirmed that they did do not want the government to pursue key steps needed to clinch it.
The India-U.S. civilian nuclear cooperation agreement aims to reverse a three-decade ban on New Delhi’s access to American nuclear fuel and equipment to help one of the world’s fastest growing economies meet its soaring energy needs.
It has been hailed as the symbol of a new strategic friendship between the once-estranged democracies. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s communist allies have opposed it saying it compromises India’s sovereignty and imposes U.S. hegemony.—Agencies