Title : India hopeful of getting international civilian nuclear
cooperation
By :
Date : 17 December 2005 2108 hrs (SST)
URL :
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/184157/1/.html
NEW DELHI : Fuel-hungry India has said it was hopeful it will soon
be able to get international help to develop its civilian nuclear
energy capabilities.
"I am optimistic through constructive dialogue with the
international community, we will soon be part of the mainstream
with full civilian nuclear cooperation," said Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on Saturday.
In July India signed a landmark deal with the US that would give it
access to atomic technology, to which it has been denied since
first testing a nuclear weapon in 1974 and refusing to sign the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
But the pact, which must be approved by the US Congress, is opposed
by many US lawmakers as well as nuclear experts who say it
undermines anti-nuclear proliferation efforts.
Singh's comments came before a second meeting of the Nuclear
Working Group headed by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and US
Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, which
is thrashing out details of the accord.
The meeting is due to be held Wednesday and Thursday in
Washington.
As part of its commitment under the deal, New Delhi must separate
its military and civilian nuclear operations, permit international
inspections of its civilian nuclear program and carry out no more
nuclear tests.
The aim is to ensure that US nuclear help for India's civilian
energy efforts does not assist the country's arms programme.
"Our non-proliferation record and our scientific credentials will
only add to India's weight in the international cooperative
endeavour to harness all the applications of nuclear energy for the
country's social and economic development, for meeting our growing
energy needs," Singh said.
Singh's statements to a function in the city of Indore were
reported by the Press Trust of India.
India, which imports 70 percent of its fuel oil needs, is seeking
to broaden its fuel sources to sustain its booming economy.
If the pact wins clearance, India could get nuclear fuel and
reactor components from the US and other nations.
The agreement must also get the nod from the 44-nation Nuclear
Suppliers Group, an informal body whose members have voluntarily
agreed to coordinate their export controls governing transfers of
civilian nuclear material.
But in the wake of the deal with the US, both Britain and France
which are members of the group have said they will relax controls
on the export of civilian nuclear technology to India.
Nuclear power supplies some three percent of the fuel needs of the
nation of more than one billion people but New Delhi aims to raise
this to 25 percent by mid-century.
Earlier this week, Singh said he expected the administration of
President George Bush to use its "full weight" to get Congress to
approve the deal. - AFP/de
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When oil supply is used up, nuclear
power supplies may be the solution??