PM gives Left a patient hearing

Meeting top Communist Party of India-Marxist leaders over lunch to iron out differences with the key United Progressive Alliance ally, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday promised to convene a meeting of the UPA-Left parties coordination committee on his return from his foreign tour to discuss contentious issues like FDI and presence of World Bank experts in the Planning Commission.

After the meeting, the prime minister said that government would take into confidence all the UPA partners and 'fulfil their expectations'.

The meeting comes a day before the prime minister's departure for the US where he would address the United Nations General Assembly and woo foreign investment.

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The meeting comes in the wake of serious reservations expressed by Left Parties on the government's plans to hike FDI ceiling in telecom, aviation and insurance sectors and the involvement of World Bank experts for consultations on mid-term appraisal of the 10th plan.

Veteran CPI-M leaders Jyoti Basu and Harkishan Singh Surjeet attended the lunch with Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

"Our differences (on Foreign Direct Investment and World Bank experts) are public knowledge and the government knows it. The Prime Minister will discuss these issues with us at the meeting of the UPA-Left coordination committee after his return from abroad," CPI-M polit bureau member Sitaram Yechuri told reporters in Delhi after the 90-minute-long meeting.