Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Government may have backed down on Indo-US nuclear deal, but the IAEA Chief Mohammed ElBaradei on Friday said that the nuclear deal is crucial to India.
Even as the UPA Government indicated that going slow on the Indo-US nuclear deal wasn't a big price to pay for completing a full term, the Indo-US nuclear deal got a solid endorsement from ElBaradei.
In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN's Senior Editor-Anchor Dr Vidya Shankar Aiyar, ElBaradei said that the nuclear deal can be pushed through later as well.
Excerpts from the interview.
Vidya Shankar Aiyar:Do you believe that India will succeed in getting the Indo-US nuclear deal through by the end of this year?
Mohammed ElBaradei: What I believe that India eventually will have to rid itself from the restrictions imposed on it to be a fully-fledged member of the international community and to exchange freely nuclear technology both as recipient and as a supplier and to be at the forefront in effort to rid our world from nuclear weapons. Whether that will happen this month, next month through 123 Agreement, this is for the Government to decide.
Vidya Shankar Aiyar: But do you think that this is going to be inevitable within the Bush presidency?
Mohammed ElBaradei: I think every American administration will understand it. In fact most of the world nations now understand that Indian need nuclear energy for development.
Vidya Shankar Aiyar: But this will not happen during the Bush presidency?
Mohammed ElBaradei: Well, I hope it would but again that depends on the dialogue here in India on that issue. I think it would be good, obviously both from Indian government prospective and the US government perspective to come and finalize and operationalise the deal as early as possible. But there is no deadline.
What I see there is a bipartism support in Congress for the US-India deal. So even there is change of administration I will be surprised if there is lack of support for that deal because as I said it makes a lot of common sense. It will help India to lift millions of people out of poverty. It will bring India to its right place at the negotiating table for nuclear arms control.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
More on IBNLive Right Now
TOP NEWS
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
