Date:04/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/04/stories/2007110461011100.htm

National

Kapil Sibal: don’t put on blinkers

Nuclear deal won’t “push” India closer to U.S. global strategy

“Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to break out of controlled nuclear regime
Not mandatory to sign NPT

HYDERABAD: Making a strong pitch for the smooth passage of the India-U.S. nuclear deal, Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal has said that those opposing it must not put on blinkers and “find demons where there are none.”

The Minister dismissed apprehensions that the deal would “push” the country closer to the United States and entrench it into the U.S. global strategy where “we become minor players.” “The country has acted independently and we protected our integrity for 60 years. Why should 2007 be any different,” he said citing the instances of the liberation of Bangladesh and Pokhran I.

Mr. Sibal, who was delivering the Justice Konda Madhava Reddy memorial lecture here on Saturday, did not find fault with those opposing the deal, saying “difference of opinion is healthy in a democracy.”

“In the ultimate analysis, we are all Indians no matter what hue and colour of ideologies we have and every step taken should be in the interests of the country,” he said without making a direct reference to the Left parties and others opposing the deal.

The deal was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to break the barrier of the controlled nuclear regime. The country need not stop from its nuclear programme and it was not mandatory to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Moreover, the deal would give India the right to recycle the spent fuel, a right that was denied to China, while eight of its reactors would not be covered under International Atomic Energy Agency’s safeguards agreement.

He said the nuclear deal was required to meet part of the energy requirement of the country that was expected to reach 8 lakh to one million MW by 2030. Enhancing the capacities of the existing thermal and hydro generation involved huge costs while the country should confront many issues if steps were initiated in this direction.

The emerging challenges of the 21st century needed collaborative efforts to tackle them and this called for leveraging technology. Tackling the new viruses and other threats would require international projects as scientists in the country could not tackle them alone.