Chidambaram says Left reluctant to see India ahead of China

New Delhi, July 22 : Defending the Indo-US nuclear deal, Finance Minister P Chidambaram gave a sarcastic remark to the Left during discussion in the Lok Sabha saying that some people do not want India to be ahead of China.

The remark came after he was provoked by the members of the Left party's questions who asked why he was drawing a comparison with India with China.

Chidambaram said, "Some people want China to become economic super power."

"I have no hesitation in saying that I do not want to envy China...I want to emulate China...I want India to become an economic power and economic super power. When we talk about India, we should talk about countries which are as large and as complex as India and that is China...We cannot talk about countries which are smaller than India and poorer than India, he added.

He said China, which draws only two per cent of its energy requirements from the nuclear sources, has mega plans to augment its atomic reactors.

By 2020, China wants to build 50,000 MW capacity for nuclear energy and it plans to take it further to 1,20,000-1,60,000 by 2030.

Chidambaram said the United Progressive Alliance Government has only taken the dialogue of the previous National Democratic Alliance Government further to answer a question whether we want to come out of nuclear isolation or not.

ANI