Days after signing a broad-based civil nuclear agreement with Russia,India on Wednesday said there are no strings attached to supply of uranium from that country and the two sides are working together to explore the atomic fuel. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna also said that negotiations on Gorshkov aircraft carrier deal with Russia,which had got stuck on price issue,had made progress and were in the "final stages". Making a statement in both Houses of Parliament on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent visit to Russia,he said the trip had been "path-breaking" in keeping with traditionally cordial relationship. Rejecting a contention of a member in Rajya Sabha that India had not signed a nuclear agreement with Russia last year because of US pressure,Krishna said there was no question of buckling under pressure from any quarter as he pointed out that Indo-Russian cooperation in the field of atomic energy has been going on for over two decades. Noting that India and Russia had concluded a civil nuclear agreement during Singh's visit,he said it envisages several areas of cooperation,including research and development,construction of nuclear power plants and supply of nuclear fuel. "Scope of cooperation (in nuclear field) is very broad. There are no conditionalities or strings attached for the fuel supply from Russia," he said responding to clarifications sought by members in the Upper House.
