Kapil Sibal defends Indo-US nuclear deal

Bangalore, Sep 18 (UNI) Strongly defending the Indo-US nuclear deal and the 123 agreement, Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal today said the visit of Atomic Commission Chief Anil Kakodkar to Vienna demonstrated UPA Government's commitment to the deal.

Speaking to newspersons here Mr Kapil, who was on a nationwide campaign trail on the controversial deal, emphasised that taking into consideration of the country's future energy needs the UPA felt that it was an opportunity.

Terming it as a ''historic opportunity'', the Minister maintained that to sustain the eight to nine per cent growth of annual GDP, country needed to exploit the nuclear energy option which would be extremely critical in meeting the demand and supply gap of power.

He said UPA had only pursued the previous NDA Government's initiative on nuclear cooperation with the US.

Coming down heavily on the Left parties opposing the nuclear deal, Mr Sibal stated, ''clearly, the Left's opposition on the 123 agreement is for oppositions' sake. If they have a hidden agenda, the people of this country must know it. We want to work with the Left and provide a stable government. We await their response.'' MORE UNI