NSG waiver proof of benign global environment, says PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday that India stands on the threshold of a "new beginning" and the recent Nuclear Suppliers Group waiver in the field of nuclear energy is proof of a "benign global environment".
    
"There is unprecedented self-confidence in our people that we can overcome the constraints in our development. I have often said that the world wants India to do well," he said.
    
Singh was addressing the concluding session of the two-day Governor's conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
    
Noting that the challenges were "mainly at home", he said with each passing day this was becoming clearer.
    
"The recent decision of a diverse group of 45 countries belonging to the Nuclear Suppliers' Group to extend to India special and exclusive treatment in the field of nuclear energy is proof again of this benign global environment," Singh said.
    
The Prime Minister is meeting US President George W Bush in Washington on September 25 and is expected to sign the 123 agreement on civil nuclear cooperation.
    
The Prime Minister said if the world wished to work and cooperate with India and invest in it, this was because the world recognised that the people of the country were on the move."But there is much that we have to do" he said.