The Hindu : National : “Nuclear pacts likely with Russia, France”

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“Nuclear pacts likely with Russia, France”

Special Correspondent

Iran has every right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme: Pranab

Kolkata: India may sign a few bilateral agreements enabling civilian nuclear co-operation with countries like France and Russia, following the waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said.

Delivering a talk on “Indo-U.S. Civil Nuclear Cooperation and its Future Impact” here on Monday, he said: “Having obtained the ‘passport’ of a clean waiver to enter into trade with the international community, India now requires only ‘visas’ from the respective countries and this would be in the form of bilateral agreements.”

Mr. Mukherjee was earlier given a felicitation by the Rajiv Gandhi Development Institute, which is chaired by Manas Bhunia, the leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the West Bengal Assembly. The institute also felicitated eminent physician D. Nageshwara Reddy.

Mr. Mukherjee said that while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was likely to visit France during his overseas trip which started on Monday, civilian nuclear co-operation agreements were also likely with Russia. “These now depend on us,” he said, adding that the 123 agreement was just a piece of paper, which was not binding on either the U.S. or India until its ratification. “It does not prevent signing of pacts with any country.”

Referring to Iran, he said the country had every right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme. He mentioned that while Iran was a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), India was not.

However, he had a word of advice for his Iranian counterpart. “You have to carry conviction with the International Atomic Energy Agency so that they understand your programmes,” he said.

Emphasising the importance of nuclear energy, especially in times of rising crude prices, he said that while a major part of France’s power needs was met by nuclear energy, many countries were now reviewing their policy on nuclear power.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said India’s isolation on nuclear technologies had killed the country’s nuclear energy scenario.

Healthcare access

Dr. Reddy, who specialises in gastroenterology, said over 30 per cent of the Indian population, especially those in the rural areas, suffered from stomach-related problems. He rued that the development of medicine in India had been a topsy-turvy one. “Every Indian should have access to scientific healthcare,” he said.

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