By IANS,
New Delhi : Ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit here, India Tuesday said it is in touch with Russia to find an alternative site for a Russian-aided nuclear plant in view of the West Bengal government’s opposition to the setting up of an atomic plant in Haripur.
“I don’t know whether abandon is the right word. We have been in consultation with our Russian friends on this and there are some technical issues that have come to the fore and we are working with them on finding another site,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters here.
He was responding to a question on whether the proposal for a Russian atomic plant in Haripur in East Midnapore district has been abandoned.
Akbaruddin noted that the setting up of a nuclear plant required lot of data collection and information processing. “This is an ongoing discussion. These are technical matters which require our scientists and our nuclear agency to be in regular touch,” he said.
The proposed site in the coastal village, which the central government had designated for locating the Russian-aided plant, has faced severe opposition from the Trinamool Congress and Maoists, who are opposing the plant for safety reasons.
Under mounting pressure, the Mamata Banerjee government announced in the assembly that it will not allow the proposed plant at Haripur.
Finding an alternative site for the plant is among a cluster of issues India and Russia are hoping to resolve before Putin comes to India for the 13th annual summit Dec 24.
Putin, the original architect of the India-Russia special and privileged partnership, was earlier expected to come to New Delhi Oct 31-Nov 1. But in a surprise development, the Russian government conveyed to India’s foreign office that Putin’s visit has been deferred to Dec 24.
The external affairs ministry, however, chose to play down speculation about differences over contentious issues like civil nuclear liability and a key Russian investment in India.
“The dates are peripheral to the substance in the relations… Peripheral issues are nice parlour games but we have moved beyond that,” said Akbaruddin.
He added that that in past also, the Russian presidents have preferred December to visit the country and said “after the year 2000, all visits by Russian presidents for bilateral Summit have been in December”.