Amid a deadlock on the Indo-US nuclear deal, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday pitched for civilian nuclear cooperation with various countries to achieve energy security.

"Civilian nuclear cooperation with various countries will also help in achieving our energy security objectives," he said at the India-Arab Investment Projects Conclave in Delhi.

Mukherjee listed guaranteeing energy security among the most important macro-economic challenges faced by India and said the country was exploring avenues for bilateral as well as multilateral cooperation with petroleum-rich countries.

He noted that India has to depend, to a large extent, on imported fuels for meeting its energy needs, which will grow in keeping with the country's projected growth.

"High oil prices, now averaging more than $100 a barrel, are a drag on our resources that could otherwise have gone for more productive purposes," Mukherjee said.

He said India aimed to enter into long term arrangements for guaranteed supply of energy.

"We are simultaneously making efforts in the area of renewable energy and new technologies," Mukherjee said.

Enhancing agricultural security and ensuring education and skill building of its vast young population were other challenges, he said.

"Large projects in infrastructure or in education and training sector can be the perfect vehicles for absorbing the budding talent of our respective young workforces," Mukherjee said.

The Indo-US nuclear deal is deadlocked for want of political consensus as the Left parties continue to oppose it.