Click to play videoNew Delhi: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has looked at the civil nuclear deal with the US as a door opener that would lead to the lifting of technology restrictions and similar cooperation with several countries thereby helping it realise its economic potential.
"If India is to realise its economic potential, it will also need alternative sources of clean energy. Foremost among them is nuclear energy," Mukherjee said on Monday in a talk on India's Foreign Policy and Future India-US Relations at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
"The bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement that India and the US have finalised indicates the way forward, which should lead to the lifting of technology restrictions and the opening up of cooperation in this field with several countries," he said with no reference to the storm the deal has run into back home.
In another remark that may raise the hackles of the Indian Left, which is opposing the nuclear deal, Mukherjee said because of the emerging "strategic relationship" with Washington, "India and the US have an objective convergence in several areas.”
"Investments are now also flowing in both directions. In terms of the global economy, India and the United States have shared concerns on critical issues, such as energy security. Both countries are, for instance, interested in the stabilisation of oil and gas prices at reasonable levels and in reduced dependence on fossil fuels," he noted.
In advanced areas like nuclear energy and space exploration, a sound indigenous base has been built that enables India not only to absorb high technology but also to collaborate with the United States in new fields.
"In sum, our relationship has never been better than it is today. I am confident about its future," Mukherjee said.
(With agency inputs)
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