NEW DELHI: Even as a visiting US official said the "domestic" legislation (Hyde Act) would have to be taken into account in operationalizing the nuclear deal with India, Left parties said they expected to be called in by the UPA government for a briefing on the safeguards agreement before foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee travelled to the US later this month. However, Left leaders said they were yet to be formally told about the agreement or a meeting with UPA representatives. "The Hyde Act is a domestic legislation (and) the 123 agreement is an international agreement. I think we can move forward with both in a consistent manner," US assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher said here on Tuesday. Boucher is on a two-day visit, which is expected to be dominated by the nuclear deal. On Monday, Mukherjee told Parliament, "The Hyde Act is an enabling provision that is between the executive and the legislative organs of the US government. India's rights and obligations regarding civil nuclear cooperation arise only from the bilateral 123 agreement." Boucher, who discussed the deal with foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, made the comment when asked whether the Hyde Act would have any bearing on the nuclear cooperation. Actually, both Boucher and Mukherjee are right. For the US, the 123 pact makes no sense without the waiver that is the soul of the Hyde Act. Mukherjee is right because India's obligations are not part of Hyde Act, but the 123 pact. But the government has allowed the Hyde Act, which cannot be wished away, to be demonized because of its prescriptive provisions. It has led to the Opposition training its guns on the Act itself, rather than on the specific clauses. The concerns were heightened after US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said that changes in the NSG guidelines, required by India for nuclear commerce with the international community, will have to be "completely consistent with the obligations of Hyde Act".