PM warns of nuclear terror risk, talks of disarmament

TOUGH STAND: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speaking at an international conference on nuclear disarmament.

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New Delhi: Is the nuclear deal dead? Even the Prime Minister is not talking about it any more.

At an international conference on nuclear disarmament the Prime Minister made no direct reference to the deal not even a mention if there was any Government initiative to break the deadlock with the Left.

A high profile international conference on nuclear disarmament with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh making only an oblique reference to the nuclear deal.

“We wish to create an international environment in which nuclear technology is used not for destructive purposes but to meet our national goals and our energy security,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.

No mention of the deadlock with the Left over the deal and any Government initiative to break that deadlock.

A draft text of the safeguards agreement with the IAEA lies with the Government but nobody in the Congress party it appears is interested in taking it forward. This when India's energy dilemmas are growing as the price of oil skyrockets.

“Our energy needs will continue to rise in the foreseeable future. We don't have the option of limiting our energy sources,” he added.

The next UPA-Left meeting on the nuclear deal is due later June but if the recent past is any guide it will be inconclusive with the Left determined to scuttle it.

Many believe the deal is dead. A crucial meeting of the IAEA board of governors has passed without the safeguards agreement on the agenda a plenary of the Nuclear Suppliers Group has also been held both were necessary steps for the deal to reach the US Congress for its approval.

That opportunity is now seen as virtually lost with Congress due to go into a long recess less than two months from now.