Amid increasing uncertainty over the India-United States civilian nuclear agreement, a senior International Atomic Energy Agency official has said that nuclear energy is the way forward for the booming economies of India and China.

The growth of nuclear power in China and India over the next two decades will outpace other countries, said Yury Sokolov, deputy director general and head of the Department of Nuclear Energy, IAEA.

"China has developed quite fast in the nuclear power industry in the past 20 years," Sokolov said. "In China, in India, you have very definite plans for increasing the nuclear capacity six to 10 times in 20 years, this is really fast growth."

"The nuclear power growth of the rest of the world is not so fast," he was quoted as saying by the official 'China Daily.'

Interestingly, China has urged India and the US to address the concerns of the international community about their bilateral nuclear deal.

Sokolov said he remained positive about the future of nuclear power. "Now nuclear power exists in 30 countries," he said. "And 30 to 40 other countries have expressed their willingness to explore nuclear power."

He made the remarks on the sidelines of an IAEA symposium on nuclear power plant management, which opened in Shanghai on Monday.

India's Department of Atomic Energy also has plans to increase the country's installed nuclear power capacity, which is expected to reach 20,000 MW by 2020, the report said.

Some Chinese experts said nuclear power was the best choice for China to satisfy its thirst for clean power amid pressure to sustain economic growth.