Against the backdrop of the ongoing controversy over the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday asserted that his government was committed to the development of nuclear energy and urged all political parties to appreciate the vital national interest of pursuing a sound  energy security strategy.

“Our government is committed to the development of nuclear energy”, he said, while laying the foundation stone of a new building of the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation here.

Conveying a strong message to political parties that opposed the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, Dr Singh said no government should shirk the responsibility of pursuing a sound energy security strategy in which nuclear energy plays an important role.

However, anywhere in his speech Dr Singh did not make any reference to the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.

He said: “When we aim for a 10 per cent growth rate, we must recognise the critical importance of energy security. By energy security, I refer not merely to the assurance of the supply of energy in ample quantities. Real energy security implies assured supply of good quality energy at affordable prices. India’s energy needs, which will grow with the pace of economic development, cannot be met with oil and gas for long,” Dr Singh cautioned. “A new strategy to deal with the rising energy demand compels us to stir a new paradigm of energy security to address our development needs. This will require exploring new technological options, new financing means, identifying new sources and building new bridges with new partners including global partners,” he insisted.

Energy needs
Pointing out that the oil import bill would put an unbearable burden on the Indian economy, he said the nuclear energy would play an important role in addressing the country’s energy needs.

Dr Singh said several non-conventional energy resources fall in the domain of high technology, and are presently commercially not viable.

The immediate need, he noted was to develop these technologies to make such energy available to the masses in the shortest possible time.