By IANS,
New York : Despite difficulties, the US-India civilian nuclear deal will eventually be consummated, India’s ambassador Ronen Sen has said.
Sen asserted that the strategic partnership between the world’s two largest democracies was already more comprehensive than any other bilateral relationship India has.
Sen, who was earlier envoy in Moscow and London, told the influential American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) at a convention in Las Vegas that their lobbying efforts on behalf of the nuclear agreement would not go in vain.
Thanking AAPI for its support for the deal, the ambassador explained last week why he was hopeful that it will become a reality soon.
“Its advantages are not in terms only of energy security, it’s a vitally critical element of our national security,” he said.
“It’s good for development,” he added, noting that India was vulnerable because it imported 70 percent of its oil requirement and that the dependence was going to increase further.
“We have seen the impact of inflation in India because of the growth of oil prices,” he said.
The nuclear deal, he said, was also important because energy constraints were hitting the annual growth rate by at least two percent, which in turn hit employment generation.
Talking about the broad base of the US-India relationship, Sen underlined the rapid transformation of mutual ties taking place in all aspects ranging from culture, trade, education, science and technology to complex military exercises including counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations.