Indo-US nuke deal can bring enormous opportunities: Minister

Bangalore, Jul 7 (UNI) Coming down heavily on those who opposed the Indo-US nuclear agreement, Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal today said the deal will provide enoromous opportunities to the country in diverse fields.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of China-India-US trilateral workshop on Science, Technology and Innovation here, he said, ''This is one opportunity we cannot afford to lose. If we lose it today it will not come back again.'' He said the deal will open up the flood gates of collaboration not just with the US but with many other countries in the world.

''This is not something to do with just India and the US. This will lead to huge opportunities of collaboration in the field of technology, education and business between India and many other countries. It will also lead to the lifting of ban on the country's dual use of technology,'' he said.

The minister said the deal would lead to technology transfer to the Indian industry and big time investments in the the country's educational system.

''Apart from importing newer technology, we can also export our own products which now we cannot do. India is the only country which produces 200 MWe capacity nuclear reactors and we can export this to different countries,'' he said.

Lashing out at the detractors of the deal Mr Sibal said, ''I can't understand why they oppose this deal. We do not have enough uranium and the nuclear power plants are running at 50 per cent of the capacity. They should understand how important the power production through nuclear fuel is to achieve future energy security.'' UNI RS Mir BD2205