Indian participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, the biggest international project which proposes to use the process of fusion to produce energy, is a recognition of the fact that India is a responsible nuclear state with advance nuclear technology, French Ambassador Dominique Girard said in New Delhi Friday evening.

Indian inclusion in the project showed that India could contribute in such advanced research, he said.

Stating that India and France had long history of bilateral cooperation, he said this cooperation would continue to grow.

Speaking on the occasion, Anil Kakodkar, chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy commission said that ITER was aimed to use fusion power to generate energy.

Fusion was the process which powers the Sun, he said adding, in the long run, fusion was capable of meeting energy needs of the world. The process involves joining together of two atoms which releases energy.

Girard said that science was the only way to meet the energy challenge the world faced today, he said.