Nuclear deal strains India's government

"It is a setback for whatever piecemeal reforms that were taking place and the issue will keep the fear of mid-term elections alive.

"Hopefully, there will not be any dithering on the nuclear deal itself because that is going to be very negative for the perception of India.

"The market has completely disregarded political developments over the last two years. My sense is that the market will be driven by global dynamics.

"You will now have a lameduck government in place and the government may not be able to take anything outside common minimum program for debate or approval. It is a very dire situation from the view point of government policy making."

RAJEEV MALIK, ECONOMIST, JP MORGAN CHASE, SINGAPORE:

"The left's resistance is significant. The key is how the two sides resolve the issue, and that will require a wait-and-see approach.

"They can't go back to the drawing board (on the nuclear deal) so it's really a question of how it lands up getting resolved. At this point, the left is likely to extract more concessions from the government rather than bring it down. "The left is clearly playing hard ball at this time but some kind of a compromise is likely to be struck.

"The bottom line is that once again the broader issue about moving forward on reforms, including some policies that are favorable to India, ends up being subject to whatever the left may like or dislike."

RAJIV KUMAR, DIRECTOR OF INDIAN COUNCIL FOR RESEARCH IN

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS, NEW DELHI: