Sonia congratulates PM on nuke deal progress

New Delhi, Sep 13 (UNI) Congress President Sonia Gandhi today congratulated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the progress in the Indo-US Nuclear deal and said the country would benefit from the renewed international cooperation that the nuclear agreement would unleash.

''We were successful with the negotiations with both the IAEA and the NSG, thanks to the Prime Minister's leadership and sustained efforts,'' Ms Gandhi said, in her opening remarks at a meeting of the extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) at the Parliament annexe here.

''The success of the negotiations is a clear vindication of his (Dr Singh) conviction, which I share, that this agreement fully protects our strategic requirements and is in the best interests of our nation and our people,'' she said.

The Congress President said the country would benefit from the renewed international cooperation that the nuclear agreement would unleash. The world would also gain from the enhanced expertise.

Pointing out that there were economic, technological and political dimensions to the nuclear agreement, she said the power generating capacity would increase very substantially.

From a technology perspective, it would propel the country to the forefront of research and development.

Politically, the special status of India and its capabilities in the nuclear field had finally been recognised by the world.

''Now it is imperative for us to debunk the false propaganda being spread by the BJP, the Left parties and other political opponents,'' she said.

UNI SH SW NS1604