On the eve of his talks with the Prime Minister in New Delhi, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Mohammed ElBaradei made a strong pitch in favour of nuclear energy and indicated he was confident of a “fruitful dialogue” with the Indian government.

On questions whether the government had approached the IAEA for talks on the civilian nuclear deal, ElBaradei said that the government would approach the agency when it was ready and he was ready to wait.

Asked whether the government’s talks with the IAEA would go through considering the present political situation and opposition from Left allies, ElBaradei said they “always had a fruitful dialogue with the Government of India”.

He was speaking to mediapersons at the Advanced Centre for Treatment Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC) at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai after accepting the donation of the indigenous Bhabhatron II unit to Vietnam.

The Bhabhatron II is a computerized telecobalt unit designed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), for cancer therapy and is being donated to Vietnam under the IAEA’s Programme of Action on Cancer Therapy (PACT) initiative.

ElBaradei, who visited the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) earlier in the day to interact with top officials from the Indian nuclear establishment, is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and others in New Delhi tomorrow.

ElBaradei said India was a valuable partner in both mandates of the IAEA, namely “the development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy and getting rid of nuclear weapons in the world.”

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