New Delhi, July 1 (IANS) The Left parties are likely to withdraw support to the Manmohan Singh government Friday following their persistent differences over the India-US nuclear deal, CPI-M sources said Tuesday. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) insiders said leaders of the four Left parties would meet Friday and give an ultimatum to the government to clarify “within hours” its position on the nuclear deal.

“Now that the prime minister (Manmohan Singh) has given enough indications that his government will go ahead with the nuclear deal, we are expecting a response immediately,” a well-informed CPI-M leader said.

“Once they clarify their position, we will go to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to inform the president that we are no longer supporting the government,” the leader said, not wishing to be named.

According to the sources, the Left parties’ stance comes after Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh met CPI-M leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury Tuesday and informed them that his party was ready to provide the crucial support to the government and ensure its survival.

Moreover, the Left leaders are in favour of withdrawing the support before Manmohan Singh leaves for Japan Sunday, to attend the G8 meeting where he is to discuss the progress of the nuclear deal with US President George W. Bush.