The Hindu : Front Page : Nuclear deal: India may face “isolation”

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Monday, Feb 04, 2008
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Nuclear deal: India may face “isolation”

Marcus Dam

Talks with IAEA still on, says Pranab

Pranab Mukherjee

KOLKATA: India might have to face isolation in the global community “and possibly isolation in sanctions too” if the country did not see the civilian nuclear deal with the United States through, Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister, said here on Sunday.

“After finalising the agreed draft text we will come back to the Left leaders and the United Progressive Alliance-Left Committee, discuss and then proceed,” as per the “political arrangements made with our Left supporters,” he added, referring to the India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), crucial to operationalising the nuclear deal.

A PTI report quoted Mr. Mukherjee as saying that India and the IAEA were yet to find a common ground on the issue and discussions were still on.

Mr. Mukherjee was addressing the annual general meeting of the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce here.

NSG exemption

On the process of granting exemption to India by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Mr. Mukherjee said: “after the clearances there will come amendments to the NSG guidelines to facilitate nuclear trade that will open us up; then we can go to various countries including the United States, Russia and France.”

Mr. Mukherjee said the arguments being made against the deal were reminiscent of those made against computers and automation in the 1970s and the 1980s.

“All problems on the energy front will be resolved” through talks with those opposed to the deal, he said.

Energy needs

“We cannot depend upon coal reserves alone for our energy security. In view of environmental concerns, we must think of future generations,” he said, adding that the country’s energy needs would increase if it were to race ahead to realise the projected growth.

Once problems on the energy front were resolved there would not be any problem in achieving the projected sustainable growth rate of 10 to 11 per cent, given the fundamental strengths of the domestic economy.

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