Mounting possibly his strongest defence yet of the Indo-US nuclear co-operation agreement, Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar on Wednesday said India was negotiating the pact from a position of strength and called attempts to isolate the country's nuclear programme from the world "foolish'. Armed with a brief powerpoint presentation for a panel discussion, Kakodkar said he wanted to put the controversial deal in "proper perspective'. While India's indigenous programme had achieved much both in the civilian and military sectors, global co-operation was needed now to meet the country's soaring energy needs and bridge the supply gap, he said. "Let there be no fear that we are attempting civil nuclear co-operation from a position of weakness or from a donor-recipient position,' the AEC chairman said. "We are talking of engaging the world from a strong business position, from a position of India's power requirements both in the short-term and the long-term. So that we can bridge the energy security gap that we foresee.' Meticulously explaining the charts in his presentation, Kakodkar said India's power requirement is forecast at 1,300 Gigawatts by 2050 and there would be a shortage of about 400 Gigawatts without the nuclear deal. A 10-year delay in operationalising the deal would lead to a shortfall of about 180 Gigawatts, he added. India's three-stage nuclear programme would not need international help in perpetuity, Kakodkar said, attempting to allay fears of some sections that New Delhi would be bound to global powers forever under the deal. "If civil nuclear co-operation opens up and we are able to import 40 Gigawatts of nuclear power production capability between 2012 and 2020, the deficit projected in 2050 will practically be wiped out,' he said. "Some people might say what is the big deal in an additional 40 Gigawatts but 40 Gigawatts is 40 Gigawatts,' he said and added that fuel imported and used during this period could be recycled for the future while the fast-breeder reactors would also pitch in. He said he was not opposed to the deal in the initial stages as perceived but admitted that he had reservations about some negotiation positions involving securing reprocessing rights and not placing the fast-breeder reactors under safeguards and those had been taken care of. "There were issues that had to be insisted,' he said. Asked about the opposition to the deal by some Indian nuclear scientists who had been his colleagues, Kakodkar replied: "I have heard various viewpoints but on the question whether the country needs power or not, I have not heard a second view.' The debate over India's nuclear programme brought to mind "our own development as men and women', Kakodkar said. "When you are a small baby, you have all the protection from external influences. But once you grow into an adult it would be foolish to stay protected. If a growing adult is prevented from interacting with the world, he will become lame.'