Left-wing parties pull out of Indian coalition

INDIA: 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 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 nuclear energy deal.

"We have decided to ask the president for an appointment so that we can formally withdraw support tomorrow," Karat said.

New Delhi, Tuesday, AFP