N-energy benefits should not remain confined: PM

New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) Seeking international cooperation in its efforts for a major expansion in the nuclear programme, India today said benefits of atomic energy should not remain confined to a "privileged few" as it was vital to meet power requirements of developing countries.

"We need the concerted and collective efforts of the international community to promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy as widely as possible," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at a function where IAEA chief Mohammad ElBaradei was conferred the coveted Indira Gandhi Peace Prize.

He said India is now poised for a major expansion of its nuclear programme in which international cooperation will be an important component.

Noting that nuclear energy was vital to meeting the energy and development needs of developing countries like India, he said, "Its benefits should not remain confined to a privileged few.