When I asked her how she resolves her problems, she said that instead of sowing one crop, she now sows three. She also told me, most importantly, that she has dug a little pond, which she fills with water and uses as an insurance policy when it does not rain.

At the very least, nuclear energy is going to act like Mrs Kala’s pond and it is going to act as an insurance policy for this country in times of need. At its maximum, nuclear energy is going to act like her main crop.

The problem is that the way our nuclear industry is positioned today, it is going to do neither.

I am proud that our Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singhji has recognised both the problem and a potential solution. But it would be unfair of me not to accept that Shri Vajpayee also saw the problem and also, in his time, worked on the solution.

We must start to think like a big and powerful country. Instead of worrying about how the world will impact us, we must start worrying about how we will impact the world.

We must never, ever let fear be our guide. We must never take decisions based on the fear of what is going to happen if we act.

We are a country of a billion people; 70 per cent of us are young. This country is brimming with confidence and self-belief. We must never forget when we take decisions as leaders that we have to believe in our people.