Nuke deal to be pushed even at the cost of polls: Rahul

"I do not care if we lose the next elections. In India, too much is said about short term gains... But this agreement is about long-term gains, about the future of India. We will go ahead with it as this agreement is based on courage," he said in Hyderabd.

The young MP was participating in an interactive session with students and academicians on the 123 Agreement organised by the National Students Union of India's Andhra Pradesh unit.

"I am in politics because we want this country to progress in the long-term. For me, the vote is irrelevant. What is relevant is thinking long-term, transform the country and to give our youngsters a bright future," Gandhi said.

The nuke deal, he said, would give a "big opportunity" to India to become a "global player in nuclear energy" and help in striking a balance between various energy sources.

"Today, our nuclear scientists are working with their hands tied to the back and our nuclear establishments, painstakingly built over years, are choking because of lack of adequate fuel supplies and technology," he said.

"What this agreement will do is to free our nuclear establishment from the shackles and give our scientists an opportunity to create wonders and open up our energy sector to the rest of the world," he said.

Answering queries from engineering students and professors on a wide range of issues related to the deal, Gandhi asserted that there was no question of any compromise on the country's sovereignty while signing the deal.

Rubbishing the argument that the deal was anti-Muslim, Gandhi said, "This deal is about energy, development and about poor people. No matter how hard some people try to give it a religious angle, it is not about religion but about progress."

Allaying apprehensions that the agreement might place America in a position to arm-twist India in the future, the Congress leader said in the post-deal scenario a bulk of nuclear fuel and technology would flow from Japan, Russia and France where nuclear technology is more advanced than the US.

"This agreement will allow us to do nuclear trade with these countries. It is not US-specific, but is meant to integrate our energy sector with the rest of the world," he said.

Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party and other Opposition parties, Gandhi said, "Even the BJP knows that the deal is in the interests of the country. In fact, they had negotiated the 123 Agreement which was less powerful than this. Lot of them (BJP leaders) admit this in private. But, when it came to supporting the deal, they opposed it. This is disappointing."

Showering praises on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for taking the "bold decision", he said, "I am proud of this stance taken by the prime minister for the sake of the future of the country. It is not often that such decisions are taken in Indian politics."

"Our prime minister is a thinking man but lot of people do not understand this. It was easy for the PM to compromise but he said no. It is for our future. I have no doubt that this is the right way forward," Gandhi said.

Explaining the advantages of the deal, he said it would gurantee nuclear fuel supply to the reactors till their life span.

Drawing a parallel between IT revolution and nuclear technology, Gandhi said, "Let us recognise that India has a place in the world and we will benefit from the integration. We should not miss the opportunity."

Recalling how his father, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, heralded an IT and communication revolution, he said a similar success story can be replicated by grabbing the opportunity in the nuclear sector.

"This deal is for India's nuclear future. It will create millions of jobs and light the homes of poor people," he said.

Disagreeing with the argument that nuclear energy was expensive, he said it was not more expensive than other forms of energy and there was a need to strike a balance between various energy resources.

"Australia is having huge deposits of uranium but it can not sell it to us now. But once this agreement is in force it can sell uranium," he said.

"All the uranium we have with us is being utilised and we need more to meet the growing energy requirements and that's why we are signing this deal," he said.

Noting that China had also signed a nuke deal with the US 13 years ago, he said while Chinese nuclear facilities were directly under the US inspection whereas India's reactors would be under the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) scanner.

"Ours is a much better agreement compared to the Chinese," he asserted.

Refuting the argument that the Hyde Act would put restrictions on India's strategic nuclear programme, Gandhi said, "There is nothing in this deal that stops us from testing nuclear weapons."

Making it clear that the nuke deal was not US-centric, Gandhi said, "It is a deal with 40 countries and bulk of nuclear fuel and technology will come from other countries."

He also refuted the charge that the agreement was shrouded in secrecy.

The Congress leader said it was "perfectly realistic" to put non-strategic nuclear reactors under the international safeguards for getting continued and assured fuel supplies.

"The strategic reactors will, however, not come under international safeguards," he said.

Gandhi repeatedly asked the gathering whether they could point out a single argument against the deal that is based on courage and not fear.

"There is none. Every single argument made by the Opposition was based on fear. This agreement is based on courage and will give our scientists the access to technology, fuel and finances."

Disagreeing with a questioner that the 123 Agreement went against the spirit of the country's non-aligned policy, he said, "There is nothing in the deal that makes us bow to anybody. This agreement will empower our nuclear establishment. No more and no less."

Wondering why Pakistan was opposed to the deal, if it was not in India's interests, he said, "Even in some quarters in the US It is said that India is getting too much for nothing."