International cooperation, a way to Indian nuclear renaissance: PM

Tarapur, Aug 31 (UNI) In the backdrop of the ongoing political standoff over the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh here today opined that international cooperation could put India on the way to nuclear renaissance.

In his maiden visit to the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) here, the Prime Minister said, ''We cannot afford to miss the bus or lag behind the global developments. We need to pave the way for India to benefit from nuclear commerce without restrictions.'' In an indirect reference to the civil nuclear agreement with US, he said the international cooperation will not be dependent on any one country. ''We will source supplies from many of the countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) including US, Russia and France.'' However, India's international cooperation with other countries cannot become effective until the NSG adapts its guidelines to enable nuclear commerce with India. ''The NSG itself has made it clear that they will not do so till the India specific safeguards agreement with International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) is finalised,'' he asserted.

The Prime Minister said once these and other steps are taken, India could commence civil nuclear cooperation with all the 45 members of NSG. This will signal the end of our international isolation of the past few decades, he said, adding, ''India is now too important a country to remain outside the international mainstream in this critical area.'' UNI