Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Parliament Tuesday that no foreign interference will be allowed concerning India's strategic nuclear programs.

Mukherjee made the statement in the House of the People of Indian Parliament after the main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Left parties openly opposed to the legislation passed by US Congress on India-US civilian nuclear deal.

"The Government has taken note of certain extraneous and prescriptive provisions in the legislation," he said, "We have always maintained that the conduct of foreign policy determined solely by our national interests is our sovereign right. We have also been clear that our strategic program remains outside the purview of these discussions."

The US Congress passed the final legislation after a Senate-House reconciliation conference on Saturday, which will allow the US administration to export nuclear fuel and technologies for civilian use to India.

The nuclear understanding with the United States is significant for India's energy security, Mukherjee said.

"Energy security has become a critical constraint in expanding our economic growth and development," he said, adding that India's nuclear energy only contributes less than 3 percent of the country's energy supply.

India plans to increase the nuclear power generation to 30,000 MW by 2022 and 63,000 MW by 2032.

"The absence of international cooperation constrains us from reaching these nuclear energy targets," he said.

The Left Parties, supporting the ruling coalition government, said on Monday that the US legislation on civil nuclear deal was not acceptable while the BJP also asked the government to reject the legislation as it contained "humiliating conditionalities."

Mukherjee defended that Washington has categorically assured India that the legislation explicitly authorizes civil nuclear cooperation with India in a manner fully consistent with the two joint statements made on July 18, 2005 and March 2 this year.

(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2006)