France hopes to sign India's first nuclear trade deal news

France hopes to sign India's first nuclear trade deal news

(NSI News Source Info) Mumbai - September 17, 2008: France will soon enter into a bilateral agreement on nuclear trade with India following the Nuclear Suppliers Group's waiver for conducting nuclear commerce with this country. The NSG waiver ''opens the way for signing of the bilateral agreement, which was finalised during the visit of President Sarkozy in January,'' French minister of state for external trade Anne Marie Idrac said after an Indo-French Joint Committee meeting in New Delhi. She said France wants to be a key partner for India in the area of nuclear energy and hopes to be the first country to conduct nuclear business with India once both countries sign the previously agreed text for bilateral civil nuclear cooperation, probably by the end of the month, during Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Paris. With both New Delhi and Paris signing a bilateral treaty, they won't have to wait for the ratification of the civilian nuclear agreement between India and the United States, which is now before the US Congress. Even if the US Congress doesn't pass the deal, India and France will conduct nuclear trade. It is also likely that Russia, which is setting up four nuclear power plants in the country, may also soon sign a bilateral treaty with India on nuclear trade. Russian ambassador to India, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, had stated that an Indo-Russian agreement to buy reactors and fuel will be signed during the visit of President Dimitry Medvedev to New Delhi in December. India, which is looking to buy uranium from Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) nations post NSG deal, has been ruffled by US President George W. Bush's communication to the US Congress suggesting that Washington had made no legally binding commitments on the supply of nuclear fuel to New Delhi. India plans to raise these issues before the two countries finally sign the deal. President Bush, meanwhile, has invited prime minster Manmohan Singh to Washington on 25 September when both sides hope to sign the deal. But signing of the agreement will depend on US congress ratifying it by then. Commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath who also attended the Indo-French Joint Committee meeting, said that with the NSG waiver, there are opportunities for nuclear trade with any country within the parameters of the nuclear cartel. He said while it was premature to comment on opening up of the nuclear energy for the private and foreign firms, ''India would be looking for best opportunities in any case," Nath said.