As the ally Left and the Opposition BJP both got together in Parliament to seize upon the letter by US lawmakers to the Prime Minister as a red rag for the nuclear deal, the Government underlined its commitment to it linking the deal to the country’s energy security and its implications for economic growth.

Addressing a conference on “Business in and between India and the US-Legal and Regulatory Framework” here, Mukherjee pointed that out the observers of the India-US relationship, especially in the last two years, had devoted a significant portion of their time to the “landmark Indo-US nuclear understanding.”

“We remain committed to implementing the understanding expeditiously in a way that it adheres as closely as possible to the framework of the July 2005 joint statement and the March 2006 separation plan”, the Minister said.

The Minister then went to link the Indo-US nuclear cooperation with the country’s energy security. “We need to tap all sources of energy and keep our options in this regard open. It is in appreciation of this need that is at the heart of the India-US nuclear understanding and the larger energy dialogue.”

“Secure and sustainable energy sources are vital for ensuring India’s high economic growth rates and enable it to address the challenges of the poorest of its citizens”, he asserted.

Meanwhile, shortly after his meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon echoed the same point in a speech at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, putting numbers to what Mukherjee said.

... contd.