In his first public comments after the Left parties withdrew support to the government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said the safeguards agreement with IAEA will not impinge on India's strategic programme.
India will never allow any extraneous interference in the conduct of its independent foreign policy, he said. The PM has expressed confidence that people will endorse the initiatives taken by the UPA government.
"The Prime Minister expressed confidence that the people of India understood the significance of the initiatives being taken by the UPA Government and endorse them," a brief note, issued bythe PM's media advisor after Singh's meeting with a group of editors at his residence in New Delhi, said.
The Prime Minister dismissed allegations by the Left and the main opposition BJP that the IAEA safeguards agreement would compromise India's strategic programme.
"The agreement will in no way impinge on our strategic programme, which is entirely outside the purview of the IAEA safeguards agreement," he said.
Highlighting the opportunities for international cooperation in civil nuclear energy to meet the challenge of energy security and high technology development, Singh said the IAEA accord would enable India to cooperate in this sector with all the 45 members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).These include USA, Russia, France and China, he said adding concluding the agreements with IAEA and the NSG would end the era of nuclear apartheid against India.
The Prime Minister also used the occasion to reject charges by the opposition and Left that government was compromising the country's foreign policy.
"India will never allow any extraneous interference in the conduct of our independent foreign policy," he asserted while making it clear that New Delhi would continue to seek good relations with all its Asian neighbours.
Facing strident criticism over inflation and rising prices, the Prime Minister outlined the steps taken by his government to sustain the growth momentum and curb inflation "in the face of external pressures" on account of rising crude oil prices.
He also spelt out measures to insulate the poor "to the extent possible" from inflation. The prime Minister also spoke about the initiatives being taken to boost agricultural production and farmers' welfare.