“It has always been understood that the agreements for four additional reactors (for Koodankulam atomic power project) could be signed only after India got the approval from IAEA for India-specific safeguards and work out with the NSG issues that are under discussion,” he said.

“So the impression that you are giving is false propaganda inside and outside which is not correct,” he told Sinha.

UPA allies DMK and NCP came out in strong support of the government position with DMK chief Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi making her maiden speech.

CPM’s Sitaram Yechury, who opened the discussion, went to lengths to explain why the Left agreed with the government going to the IAEA for safeguard talks. Maintaining that the government should not go ahead with the deal, he said the IAEA talks permission was to sort out certain issues like “interrupted fuel supply and full civilian cooperation” which the Prime Minister had assured but wasn’t there in the 123 agreement. Yechury repeated his party’s argument against the deal that “it is a part of the US plan to make India a subordinate ally”, that this has already been reflected in India’s foreign policy like “Iran vote and Iran pipeline issue”.

Pitching on the energy point, Union Minister Kapil Sibal said the discussion was not “ideology-neutral.” “Energy is at the heart of economic growth, and we need to look at various energy sources to maintain 9 per cent growth”, he said.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress drew attention to nuclear power as a clean energy option. He pointed out that nuclear energy accounted for 60 per cent of Belgium’s energy requirements and 20 per cent of total energy requirement in countries like the US and UK.

... contd.