London: Ahead of next week's talks with the Left on the stalled Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement, the UPA government has said that it hoped that "national interest" will prevail and it will be able to persuade its allies who have reservations on the deal to go ahead with it.

"The Indo-US civil nuclear deal by a preponderous overwhelming public opinion is regarded as pre-eminently in the national Interest," Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State for Industry, told reporters here.

Noting that the UPA-Left Co-ordination Committee would meet in New Delhi on May 28, Kumar, who had earlier served as Additional Solicitor General of India, hoped "we will have a better picture and understanding of the situation" after the meeting.

"I hope that interlocutors of the government will be able to persuade our allies who have reservations on the deal to go ahead with it," the minister said last evening.

Kumar said, "it is just incomprehensible why this is being objected to" keeping in mind the demands for clean energy, consistent with India's commitment with the Millennium Development Goals and the requirement of an economy on the high growth trajectory.

"It is generally believed and in my personal opinion, rightly so, this is the best deal that we could have negotiated," the minister said.

Noting that if the deal has to go through, it has to be cleared "very soon", Ashwani Kumar who represented India at the World Economic Forum at Davos last year, said, "I am an optimist. It is my fond hope that national interest will prevail."
Source : PTI