New Delhi - Communist partners of India's ruling United Progressive Alliance Tuesday announced the withdrawal of support to the government over the civilian nuclear deal with the United States. 

The left-wing parties which met in New Delhi said they had taken the decision soon after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that the government would approach the International Atomic Energy Agency for an India-specific safeguards pact to implement the deal. 

Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), that leads the four leftist parties told reporters they would formally withdraw support on Wednesday. 

"We have asked the President (Pratibha Patil) for an appointment tomorrow morning so we can go and formally withdraw support," Karat said. 

The communist leader also said a letter had been sent to India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee informing the government that it was pulling out its support. 

The announcement came after several months of threats by the left-wing parties that they would withdraw support if the government went ahead with the agreement. 

The left-wing parties are opposed to the nuclear deal, calling it a sellout of India's strategic sovereignty and a "cover" to building closer ties with the United States. 

However, there was no immediate danger to the Congress-party led UPA government which claimed it had the numbers for a majority in the Indian parliament in case a no-confidence motion was called. (dpa)