N-deal: Sonia likely to hold talks with Left next week

Congress president Sonia Gandhi is likely to hold talks with leaders of Left parties next week after holding internal discussions within the party on ways and means to resolve the crisis over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

"We will talk to them next week after discussing among ourselves," Ahmed Patel, political secretary to the Congress president, told reporters after the meeting of the high-powered Congress core group.

The meeting, chaired by Sonia, was attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other top party leaders.

Sonia, who returned to Delhi from South Africa on Friday evening, was briefed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the nuclear issue before the core group meeting.

The Congress president cut short her visit, which was earlier planned for four days, by dropping Durban from her itinerary amidst the ongoing stand-off with Left allies over the Indo-US nuclear deal.