New Delhi: A bilateral cooperation pact is a pre-requisite for nuclear cooperation and trade with the United States, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Parliament on Tuesday.

New Delhi was engaging the International Atomic Energy Agency to negotiate and conclude an India-specific safeguards agreement and an additional protocol. India was also discussing with members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group the need for adjusting their guidelines to permit transfers to it. "We have briefed them collectively on various issues of mutual interest, and look forward to their taking a decision on the adjustment of NSG guidelines at an appropriate time."

While every stage of the process was important, the test was for India to secure full civilian nuclear cooperation with the international community while protecting its strategic programme and maintaining the integrity of its three-stage nuclear programme and indigenous research and development, Mr. Mukherjee said in identical suo motu statements in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

The principles and concerns that guided the Government's approach to the nuclear understanding, set forth when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to Parliament on August 16, "continue to remain the basis for our engagement with the U.S. and the international community on the tasks ahead."

Energy options

Mr. Mukherjee reiterated that the nuclear understanding with the U.S. was significant for India's energy security. Absence of international cooperation would "seriously constrain" India from reaching its nuclear energy targets. The country was pursuing several energy options, including clean coal technologies, exploitation of coal bed methane and gas hydrates. As of now, nuclear energy provided less than three per cent of India's energy mix. The current estimates envisaged a generation of 30,000 MWe by 2022 and 63,000 MWe by 2032.

The Minister said India's access to nuclear energy was impeded by an international regime, and required a political solution consistent with the country's security and energy requirements. "Eventually, our objective is that technology denial regimes that have targeted India for so many decades must be dismantled so that our national development is unimpeded."

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