Mulford meets PMO functionaries

On the eve of crucial UPA-Left Committee meeting, US Ambassador David Mulford on Tuesday met senior functionaries of the Prime Minister's Office, including Minister of State Prithviraj Chavan, apparently to remind the government that time was running out fast on the nuclear deal.
     
During his meetings with Chavan and Shyam Saran, Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Nuclear issue, Mulford is understood to have gauged the UPA government's intentions on the nuclear deal that is stuck because of stiff opposition by Left parties.
    
The meetings are believed to have deliberated on the current status of the nuclear deal, a day after US State Department said that every passing day was making it harder to get the agreement through.
    
The US envoy apparently wanted to know about the government's plans to operationalise the deal in the face of stiff opposition by Left allies.
    
Chavan and Saran are believed to have conveyed to Mulford that the government is keen to implement the deal as soon as possible and all efforts are being made to persuade the Left parties in this regard.
    
When contacted, the US Embassy said it does not speak about the engagements of the Ambassador.
     
Mulford's meetings with Chavan and Saran significantly came a day ahead of the meeting of UPA-Left Committee on nuclear deal during which the government will make another effort to persuade the allies to allow it to sign the safeguards agreement with IAEA.
   
State Department spokesman Tom Casey said on Monday that every passing day is making it harder to get the deal through.
    
"We believe and we continue to believe that this arrangement is in the best interests of India, the United States, and the broader international community, because it will strengthen non-proliferation regimes," Casey said.
    
"The reality, of course, is that every day that goes by is one less day on the legislative calendar for us to be able to have Congressional action take place. So it certainly gets harder every day that this is delayed," Casey said.