A news report that the Pakatan Rakyat coalition has agreed to ink an agreement with Indian rights advocacy group Hindraf over proposals to uplift the Indian poor has been denied by PKR vice-president Tuan Chua.

NONE "I would like to make several clarifications in reference to the report in Malaysiakini on Tuesday quoting Hindraf president P Waythamoorthy ( right ) saying Pakatan Rakyat has agreed to sign the Hindraf blueprint in the first week of January," Chua said in a statement yesterday.

As someone directly involved in the talks, Chua, who is also the MP for Batu, clarified that the two parties had yet to reach a formal agreement as they have not completed their "delicate" negotiations.

"In principle, we are in agreement with some of the proposed solutions in the Hindraf document. An example is the long-unresolved issue of statelessness faced by hundreds of thousands of Indians, despite they being born in this country.

"PKR is committed to a speedy resolution of this serious injustice. However, there are also proposals where we take a different approach," he said.

Talks began in September

Chua revealed that the two sides began discussions to exchange views on issues of common concern in September.

It was during these discussions that Hindraf presented its ‘Five-year Blueprint on the Uplifting of Indian Poor', which details the plight of poor Indians and proposes solutions to these problems.

While he felt that there were merits for a tie-up with Hindraf, Chua insisted that even if PKR agreed to the amendments suggested, it would still need to seek the approval of the other coalition partners.

malaysiakini malacca forum 160312 tian chua "When it comes to formulating a political programme, we have stressed to Hindraf that PKR will not act unilaterally or without consensus from all the partners in Pakatan Rakyat."

The blueprint proposed by Hindraf must first be presented to the Pakatan Rakyat leadership council for discussion and approval.

"This process is yet to take place, therefore it is too early to announce the signing of any agreement.

"The relationship between Pakatan Rakyat and Hindraf can only be determined jointly by all three parties and not by PKR alone," Chua said.

Despite there being no firm agreement now on the blueprint between Pakatan and Hindraf, Chua gave his assurance that his party would continue to engage with the Hindraf leadership and explore common grounds for collaboration.