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P.K. Iyengar cautions against nuclear deal

Special Correspondent

`Preserve right to carry out indigenous research'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission P.K. Iyengar said here on Saturday that India should be extremely careful about the devices that outside forces were employing to deprive the country of the continued benefits of its hard-earned achievements in the field of nuclear technology.

Addressing a meeting organised here on Saturday to discuss the Indo-U.S. Agreement on Nuclear Technology, Dr. Iyengar said India now had 20,000 trained people to take its nuclear programme forward. The country had built up its own capability in the field. The decisions taken today should not inhibit the country's future ability to develop and pursue nuclear technology for the benefit of the nation, he said.

Dr. Iyengar narrated the history of India's struggle to develop its nuclear technology and recalled the contributions of leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi in the country's achievements.

He described the pressures the country had overcome in the process.

Dr. Iyengar said the deals with other countries, whichever way they were camouflaged, should not be allowed to affect the nation's independence in carrying out indigenous research and development. He said the new generation of politicians and bureaucrats could not fathom the real implications of the "give-in" they were being tempted to make at the moment.

This was all the more reason why "people with perceptions accumulated over a period of time" should be involved in the process of decision-making in such issues of national importance.

Dr. Iyengar described the Indo-U.S. deal, in the form approved by the U.S. House of Representatives, as worse than the deal the erstwhile Maharaja of Travancore had signed with the British Resident

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