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NEW DELHI - A bloc of Indian left-wing and communist parties announced Tuesday they were pulling out of the country's coalition government in protest against a nuclear energy deal with the United States.
The decision, however, is not expected to cause the collapse of the Congress-led government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who last week managed to secure the support of a regional party.
Top Marxist leader Prakash Karat told reporters in New Delhi that the "time has come" for the political left to bail out of the coalition in the wake of Singh's decision to push ahead with implementing the controversial pact.
"We have decided to ask the president for an appointment so that we can formally withdraw support tomorrow," Karat said.
The Press Trust of India news agency quoted an unnamed Left leader as saying that they would ask President Pratibha Patil to direct the government to seek a vote of confidence in parliament.
The Congress party meanwhile attacked the Left for being insensitive in deciding the timing of withdrawal -- which came while Singh is in Japan to attend a meeting of the Group of Eight industralised nations.
"Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has convened an emergency meeting to discuss the political developments," a party spokesman told AFP.
Singh and US President George W. Bush in 2005 unveiled the agreement to share civilian nuclear technology -- a deal that when finalised would see India entering the fold of global nuclear commerce after being shut out for decades.
Singh argues the pact is crucial for India's energy security.
But the four-member bloc of left-wing parties, who have 59 seats in the 545-member parliament, insist the deal would bind India too closely to the United States, and have threatened repeatedly to force early elections if it moves forward.
They say the deal runs counter to India's status as a figurehead in the non-aligned movement.
They also believe that allowing UN inspections of the country's civil nuclear programme -- as demanded by the Americans -- would harm India's strategic weapons programme.
But analysts said Singh's administration seemed to have avoided a collapse by clinching the support of the regional socialist Samajwadi Party after crunch talks last week.
"We have 39 MPs and we have some others who have pledged to vote with us, for the government," Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh told reporters.
Political analyst Yashwant Deshmukh said the move by the leftist parties was largely academic.
"Right now with the support of the Samajwadi Party, it seems the government will last its term and the deal will also go through," he said.
"As of now there seems to be no danger of the government falling," added political analyst and author Rasheed Kidwai.
- AFP /ls
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