New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said in Lok Sabha that it is in India's interest to have good relations with all major powers including the US.
Ruling out any bilateral pact with the US that would put a cap on India's military nuclear programme, Manmohan Singh said New Delhi will retain the ‘sovereign right’ on deciding whether to carry out any atomic tests in the future despite the civil nuclear deal with Washington.
Replying to a debate on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Singh said he perceived a major shift in relationships with major countries who showed willingness to help India in achieving high growth.
He said India should take advantage of the opportunities provided due to its strong legal system and other advantages.
"It is in the interest of India to have good relations with all major powers," he said adding this included the US, EU countries, Russia and the Arab World.
India needs increasing amounts of energy for its development process, the Prime Minister said, adding modernisation of the rural economy would require substantially large non-conventional energy resources.
"We have substantial hydro-carbon resources" but nuclear energy would go a long way to help the process. "That inspires us to look for opportunities to look for removal of nuclear apartheid regime," he said.
If India is not to be "frustrated" in acquiring its energy needs it should also move towards alternatives, Singh said adding India only produces 30 million tonnes of crude oil as against the demand of 110 million tonnes.
International crude oil prices have also increased to around $70 a barrel from $30, he said.
"There is nothing in the nuclear deal which will hurt the strategic interest of this country," the Prime Minister assured the House adding "We cannot give up the strategic option".
"We cannot give up the autonomy of our foreign policy. The nuclear deal is not a means to be subservient to any country either the US or anyone else," he added.
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