While he may have said that failure of the nuclear deal does not mean the end of life, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today again underlined that energy security holds the key to the future and this was why his government wanted to go ahead with the next step of negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).Addressing the Combined Commanders Conference in New Delhi, Singh said that the civilian nuclear cooperation was a question of India’s energy security and should not be seen through the “narrow vision” of an Indo-US agreement since it would open up nuclear cooperation with the entire world. Currently, India cannot carry out nuclear commerce with the 45-member NSG.Singh made it clear that India’s energy requirements would increase exponentially in the coming years to support present growth levels of nine per cent. With fossil fuel levels stretching, he made the point that nuclear energy remains an option not fully exploited, that India requires full access to civilian nuclear technology.
