India's ruling Congress party said its government would not collapse over a nuclear deal with the United States, despite warnings by its communist allies of "serious consequences" if it did not put the pact on hold.
The opposition of left parties, which provide parliamentary support to the Congress-led coalition, to the civilian nuclear deal has triggered prime minister Manmohan Singh's worst political crisis since he took office in 2004.
But Congress cabinet minister and senior leader Kapil Sibal said the government would not fall over opposition to the pact.
"This is a non-issue," Sibal told NDTV television, in reply to a question whether the Congress party-led government would quit rather than go back on the landmark nuclear deal.
"I don't think any government will fall. I don't think anybody will take that position once the issue is debated in parliament," said Sibal, the minister for science and technology and earth sciences.
Sibal's comments aired on TV today come a day after senior communist leader Sitaram Yechury sought to calm worries about a possible withdrawal of leftist support, saying the communists were asking the government to press the "pause button" on the pact, and "not eject or stop".
The nuclear deal was finalised in July after months of negotiations between the world's two largest democracies, although it still needs approval by several global institutions and a final vote by the US Congress.
It will give an energy-hungry India access to American reactors and fuel for the first time in three decades, despite New Delhi having tested atomic weapons and not signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
India's communist parties - who jointly have 60 MPs in the 545-member lower house of parliament -have argued the deal undermines India's sovereign nuclear and foreign policy and draws it into a US strategic alliance, aimed at containing China.