Clearence of nuclear deal will pave way for co-op with Europe:EC

New Delhi, Aug 21 (UNI) Stating that greater use of nuclear energy will help fulfil the huge power deficit in India, the European Union has said the coming through of the India-US nuclear deal in all its facets will open the doors of co-operation in the field with Europe, such as security and supervision of fissile materials.

"With the successful completion of the 123 agreement with the United States for civil nuclear co-operation, India has earned a unique status in the global order where it is the only state which has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, on the one hand, and has yet somehow become a de-facto nuclear power", Mr Francisco da Camara Gomes, Ambassador- Head of Delegation of the European Commission in India, said in an interactive session last night with the Forum of Financial Writers.

Mr Gomes reserved his comments on the deal, saying that it was in the fitness of things that the European Commission firms up its views on the subject after the deal is cleared internally both by India and the United States.

The Ambassador, in the interactive session, touched upon varied issues, such as the Galileo project, the status of the Emma Nicholson Report on Kashmir, the progress of the India- EU strategic partnership and its various facets, the future of trade and investment relations and co-operation between the two entities at the WTO fora. The theme of the Ambassador's address was entitled; 'My years in India and the evolution of the India- EU Startegic Partnership.' Mr Gomes is retiring from his tenure in the European Commission at the end of the month.

The Ambassador noted that the nulcear deal was facing rough weather in India and said after it clears the hurdles within the nation, it would then go before the International Atomic Energy Commission(IAEA).

Saying that the European Union, as a common entity, has not taken a position on the deal, Mr Gomes said it would be appropriate that this be done after the agreement is cleared at all levels.

He noted that India was facing a huge power problem and it needs to tap all sources of energy to meet its needs. Or else, economic growth would be jeopardised, he warned.

Mr Gomes said Galileo, the Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, has run into difficulties because private financers have developed cold feet. He said India has kept its options open on participating in the project, which was the right thing to do.

He said the Galilo project was based on a Public- Private Partnership model, and the funding requirements were miscalculated because of the "lack of enthusiasm of the private sector players and excessive optimism of the planners." MORE UNI