New Delhi: With the Left Front stating its intention to request president, Pratibha Patil, to ask the UPA government to seek the Parliament's vote of confidence, foreign minister, Pranab Mukherjee, has responded by saying that the UPA government will approach the IAEA on the Indo-US nuclear deal, only after seeking the vote of confidence.

In this regard he said that though the monsoon session of the Parliament is due to begin on 11 August, a brief session may be called for the vote of confidence. He said that the government will seek a trust vote as soon as it receives formal communication from the president.

Responding to some demands made by Left Front leader, Prakash Karat, in his letter to the UPA, Mukherjee said that the full text of nuclear safeguards agreement could not be shared as it is a "privileged" confidential document between Indian government and IAEA. ''Those wanting full text of the safeguards agreement would have had to join the government to have access to it,'' said Mukherjee.

Mukherjee had however added that the summary of safeguards agreement with IAEA was already given to Left parties.

After weeks of bitter wrangling, the Left parties finally withdrew support to the UPA over the Indo-US nuclear deal earlier in the day. The move came after the prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, announced the government's intention to move the IAEA with regard to the next steps in formalising the nuclear deal.

This was a position that the Left had categorically warned the government against adopting, as they were dead against expanding the nuclear deal any further.

See: Left Front withdraws support - SP steps in to fill the gap