NEW DELHI, Aug 20: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to step up pressure on opponents of a nuclear energy deal with the United States on Monday as his government faced its worst crisis since taking power three years ago.

Speaking in New Delhi, he made no direct reference to the much-touted – and increasingly maligned –deal. But his message in support of the pact was clear.

“When we aim for a 10 per cent (economic) growth rate, we must recognise the critical importance of energy security,” Singh said, arguing that India must find cheaper alternatives to oil and gas imports, which are used to fuel two-thirds of the country’s energy supply.

“Our government is committed to the development of nuclear energy,” he added in a speech.

Both Mr Singh and US President George W. Bush have repeatedly sold the deal to sceptics in both countries as a way to help energy-starved India get the power needed to sustain its economic boom and wean itself from increasingly expensive oil and gas imports.

But it’s an argument that’s so far proven unable to sway Indian critics, especially Singh’s communist political allies, who are key to the administration’s survival but deeply opposed to the pact – a fact the reiterated after meeting on Monday.

Many critics argue the deal could undermine India’s nuclear cherished nuclear weapons programme and lead to too much US influence over India’s foreign affairs. Some simply oppose closer ties to the United States.

Few here believe the government will collapse over the issue. But analysts say the communists’ opposition has considerably weakened Singh’s government, raising serious doubts over whether it will be able to forge closer ties to the United States and enact a series of economic reforms, such as loosening the country’s restrictive labour laws and further liberalising its financial sector.

“The ambition of the current regime is to restructure Indo-US relations in a strategic sense – and they now look much less capable of being able to do so,” said Mujibir Rehman, a political science professor at Jamia Millia University in New Delhi.

Controversy surrounding the deal has been brewing since late last month, when New Delhi and Washington finalised a technical agreement spelling out how cooperation between the two countries would work.

In the past week, lawmakers from the communist parties, known as The Left Front, and Hindu nationalist opposition parties, who also oppose the deal, have repeatedly disrupted Parliament over the deal. They again forced it to be adjourned on Monday after their demands for a vote on the pact was rejected.

Before nuclear cooperation can begin, US lawmakers need to approve the technical aspects of the deal and India needs to make separate agreements with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an assembly of nations that export nuclear material.—AP