By IANS,
New Delhi: Former head of UN’s atomic energy agency Mohamed ElBaradei Friday said the India-US nuclear deal was “win-win” and was important to bring India into the international nuclear regime.
“I was a very strong supporter of nuclear deal and it was win-win,” said ElBaradei, who retired as International Atomic Energy Agency chief in 2008, at the India Today Conclave here.
He was one of the key opposition figures of the ‘Jasmine Revolution’ in Egypt that led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
The India-US nuclear deal is back in the spotlight over a controversy that members of parliament were bribed to vote in favour of the government in a trust motion over the agreement in 2008.
“I could not see the logic of China getting all the technology and India having the restrictions, just because China had got nuclear weapons before a date… It is not about nuclear weapons,” he said.
He said that the deal afforded technology to India to lift people out of poverty.
“India became a partner not a pariah, which is very important,” said ElBaradei.
The question was asked by former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, who introduced himself as having played a “small role” in saving the United Progressive Alliance government and facilitating the nuclear deal.
Singh asked ElBaradei if he could endorse of having done the right thing.
“I think you have done something very right and you can sleep peacefully at night,” ElBaradei told Singh.