India not too happy with G-8 outcome: Manmohan Singh:-

US President George W Bush appeared to be inclined to forge a cooperation with India on nuclear energy, which is expected to figure prominently when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Washington next weekend.

This was indicated by Singh, who said that in the recent G-8 meeting at Gleneagles, Bush had endorsed the need to help India in the civilian nuclear programme to promote energy security.

Singh had an opportunity to meet Bush at the G-8 summit on Thursday when he reminded the US President about the need to pursue nuclear cooperation for energy security to sustain high 7-8 per cent growth particularly in the face of surging global oil prices.

The issue of energy security had figured prominently when the Prime Minister had met Bush in Moscow in November last year.

Singh recalled about this issue during the outreach meeting with G8 and Bush had acknowledged it.

India is currently engaged in energy dialogue with both the EU and the US.

Analysts said it is quite likely that the US may take steps towards removing certain restrictions that still existed in forging nuclear cooperation for peaceful purposes as there is a growing recognition that India is a responsible nuclear power.

The theme of G-8 the summit was to promote clean energy and sustainable development. Developing countries like India and China have to grow by 7-8 per cent on a sustained basis to eradicate poverty in the next one or two decades, analysts said.

To sustain such high growth rate, India would have to develop massive power generating capacity. It would have to pursue hydel and nuclear power programmes, which are two main sources of clean energy.

Analysts said India would require massive investments to pursue its hydel power programmes, which have the potential to generate additional 50,000 MW power.

Nuclear energy is yet another source where cooperation between India and the US could promote clean energy further.

To promote hydel power massive investments are required for which international agencies and multilateral institutions should help in extending concessional assistance or interest free loans in a bid to work towards the goal of clean energy and sustainable development, analysts said.

Over the years India has also acquired capabilities in advanced nuclear technology and the fact that India is a nuclear power cannot be wished away, they said.



Rounding up his three-day visit to the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said on Friday evening that he was not completely satisfied with the results of the two-day Group of Eight (G-8) deliberations at Gleneagles, Scotland, adding that the eight developed countries-US, Britain, France, Russia, Canada,Italy, Japan and Germany-had not done enough to address the serious issues of climate change and sustainaible development through their statement released today.

Addressing a news conference at India House after unveiling the plaque to commemorate the 75th Founding Day of the building, Dr. Singh said that though India had had a limited role to play in the G-8, he had used the opportunity of his meetings with various G-8 leaders, including President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, President Hu Jintao and President Chirac among others, to re-emphasize New Delhi's concerns over developed countries not wanting to take up the very realistic challenge of providing a cleaner global environment and promoting sustainable development of poorer nations.

"I must agree with you that the communique (of the G-8) has failed to come to grip on the issue of climate change. There are visible differences between the perceptions of the developed and the lesser developed nations on the issue of climate change," Dr. Singh said.

He, however, highlighted the point that in some sense, countries like the United States had acknowledged and made clear that what limits economic growth also affects the environment. This, he said, was one of the redeeming features of the G-8 deliberations, otherwise there was nothing much to write home about.

Dr. Singh also touched upon other issues during his interaction with the media. These included the issue of terrorism, the way forward on Kashmir, results of talks with various G-5 and G-8 leaders, whether the issue of India's inclusion as a permanent member of the UNSC was raised, praise for Indian security forces and intelligence outfits in dealing with the Ayodhya blast and its aftermath and his government's strategy for dealing with the malaise of corruption.

When asked about the government's policy on how it would enhance economic growth, Dr. Singh said: "We must maintain the momentum of high growth. Meaningful solutions can be best found in arapidly growing economy. The CommonMinimum Program's projections are aimed at that. We will have a growth rate of seven percent. Indications are that we have a growth rate of 6.9 percent. Growth by itself, however, is not a singular factor. Processes of empowerment, principally health and education have to be encouraged. Regional disparities have to be removed. The government has embarked on a program to provide social safety nets."

Commenting on the issue of elections in Kashmir, the Prime Minister said that his government had recently overseen successful elections in the state, which were free and fair, and added that his administration was ready to talk to anyone or faction that moved away from the path of violence. On combatting terror attacks, he referred to the attack on the Ram Temple, and said that what the security forces and the intelligence agencies had achieved in this direction was indeed praiseworthy.

When asked whether he had raised the issue of UNSC membership with Chinese President Hu Jintao, he replied in the negative. He said that his meeting with Hu had focussed basically on Sino-Indian ties. The meeting with French President Jacques Chirac, he said was more productive in that the discussions were wide-ranging.

"We agreed that political relations were excellent and thatb economic relations needed to be more intensive,"Dr. Singh said.

The talks with Chirac also focussed ways to reduce trade barriers and France's support to India on the UNSC membership front, he added.

Earlier in the evening, the Prime Minister unveiled the plaque to commemorate the 75th Founding Day of India House. He used the occasion to once again reiterate his shock and sadness over the terror attack on London's Metro system, saying terrorism had cast its shadow once again, "reminding us that this is an urgent global problem which we neglect or minimise at our peril."

He said that though the events in London had inevitably affected his programme at Gleneagles on Thursday, and a scheduled meeting with Tony Blair had to be cancelled, New Delhi's partnership with Britain appeared to be progressing in the right direction, and he visualised this relationship being enhanced in the years to come.

He said that the 75th Founding Day of India House "is reflective of the inextricable links between India and the UK, which this building embodies.

The function was attended by External Affairs Minister K.Natwar Singh, who is here to attend a meeting of G-4 Foreign Ministers, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, National Security Advisor M.K.Narayanan, senior officials of the PMO, India's High Commissioner to Britain, Kamlesh Sharma and others. (ANI)







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