Russia rejects involvement of foreign hand to fuel Koodankulam protests

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

Russia on Saturday rejected conspiracy theories over the involvement of foreign hand in the anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNP) agitation.

Speaking to Express after the inauguration of a seminar on ‘Globalisation and Food Security’ at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in association with All India Foreign Medical Graduates Association on Saturday, Deputy Consul General of Russia Sergey Soloviev said that there is no involvement of foreign hand in the Koodankulam protests.

“I don’t think there is involvement of any foreign hand in orchestrating the protests. France and United States are also investing in reactors and what would they get if they fuel the protests,” said Soloviev while rejecting the conspiracy theories.

However, he did blame the priests stating that the ‘role of priests is not good.’

Interestingly, his statement comes in the wake of V Narayanasamy, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, stating that the anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNP) agitation was being funded by foreign agencies and investigation is on to unmask the foreign agencies.

He said the protests are due to the ignorance of people about the nuclear issue and the need for energy to develop. “India is not rich in resources and atomic energy is important for energy security. The protesters are downtrodden and ignorant about the facts,” he said.

He said that after the Chernoboyl incident, Russian reactors safety has been upgraded and the reactors are safe. He, however, refused to comment on nuclear liability law.

Earlier after inaugurating the seminar, the Russian envoy said the event is prelude to the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) international conference on food security which will be held in India in the next three months.

He stressed the fact that BRIC nations can play a crucial role in global food security. Earlier, former Supreme Court judge S Mohan the rising prices of foodgrains is not a temporary phenomenon. “The unrest across the world over shortage of foodgrains is just beginning and this will create in global crisis,” the judge warned while highlighting various issues including climate change and rise in population for the current crisis.