President Pratibha Patil will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday, with a confidence vote expected to be the main topic after the government's left allies withdrew support to protest a nuclear deal with the United States.
The withdrawal means Singh's four-year-old government needs the support of other parties. The government has secured backing of the key regional Samajwadi Party but it is still unclear if the ruling coalition has enough votes for a parliamentary majority.
On Wednesday evening, President Patil issued a statement saying she would meet Singh on Thursday "to have his views on these developments", referring to the left's exit.
"Possibly a special session of parliament to seek a confidence vote will come up in the meeting," said a government official, who asked not to be named.
The meeting is due to start at 7:30 p.m.
India has submitted a draft nuclear safeguards accord to the International Atomic Energy Agency governors for approval, a crucial step to finalising a deal first agreed in 2005 between Singh and U.S. President George W. Bush.
Dates for both the confidence vote and an IAEA board of governors meeting to consider India's nuclear document were unclear. Both were expected, though, later this month.
A defeat for the government in parliament would trigger an early election, probably destroying chances of the nuclear pact going ahead and sparking political uncertainty just as the country struggles with record inflation and rising interest rates.
The pact's approval would be a victory for Singh, giving India access to U.S. nuclear fuel and technology and moving the Asian giant's trade and diplomatic relations closer to the West as it seeks energy sources for its booming, trillion-dollar economy.
But first the government must win the confidence vote.
It still needs several votes from other smaller parties, and must hope there is no rebellion within the ranks of the Samajwadi Party against the nuclear deal, which critics say gives the United States too much influence over India.
India's 543-member house includes scores of small parties from dozens of ethnic groups and castes, making it unclear whether the government has the necessary support.
The IAEA announcement that India had submitted the nuclear accord came despite Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee saying on Tuesday that India would seek approval from the nuclear watchdog only after the vote of confidence.
Critics say the deal reverses 30 years of U.S. policy opposing nuclear cooperation with India after it developed nuclear weapons.
But time is running out if it is to be passed by the U.S. Congress before President Bush leaves office.
After the IAEA, India still needs to seek approval for the deal from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, where there is doubt because India is outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and finally ratification by the U.S. Congress.
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