El Baradei pitches strongly for Indo-US N deal

New Delhi, Oct 12 (UNI) Making a strong pitch for the Indo-US Nuclear deal, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohammed ElBaradei today said he wanted India to be a full partner in nuclear arena including its use for peaceful purposes and to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

Replying to questions after delivering the Hindustan Times Leaderhip Summit lecture here he said he favoured the end rather than the means to achieving the end.

The end was to see India come out of nuclear isolation and help it sustain its nine per cent growth with the help of energy. It would need all kinds of energy, including nuclear to sutain that growth.

''I look at the end and not the means. For me the end is very clear. India can't sustain its growth without energy. There is no question that a large developing country like India can do it. You need energy because of various reasons including development and climate change,'' he said.

He said he also wanted India to come out of nuclear isolation and become a full partner of the nuclear member body.

''India should not continue to be an outsider but should be a full partner in the nuclear field for peceful purposes and ridding the world of nuclear weapons...I can't see how to get it done without India being at the centre of the effort to abolih nuclear weapons,'' he aid in reply to a question.

Dr ElBaradei said he wanted India ''liberated from the retrictions of 45-member countries (Nuclear Suppliers Group). To me it means being free to have state-of-the art (nuclear) technology.

He, however, said that how India should go about it, was for it to see.

He also played down the safeguard agreement saying there was nothing significant about it. It already had four such agreement with India and had alos signed such agreement with 180 countries.

India had already explained in the Separation Plan that it would place certain reactors for examination.

UNI