India, France sign nuclear agreement

PARIS: Even as the United States remains unable to finish its internal political process on the proposed Indo-U.S. civil nuclear accord, New Delhi and Paris signed on Tuesday an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation, the first of its kind since the Nuclear Suppliers Group agreed to lift international restrictions on India's nuclear trade. Formally called the "Co-operation Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the French Republic on the Development of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy," the agreement was signed by Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace here.The agreement paves the way for India to do business with France in reactors, nuclear fuel supply, nuclear safety, radiation and environment protection and nuclear fuel cycle management.The Prime Minister said the agreement added "a new dimension to our strategic partnership." The relationship dated back to the days of the fast breeder test reactor at Kalpakkam near Chennai, the heavy water production facilities at Vadodara, and the supply of enriched uranium for the Tarapur nuclear plant after the Pokhran test in 1974. Both sides have contextualised the agreement in the global need to find non-polluting energy sources in order to combat climate change. A background note assures the global community that as "responsible states with advanced nuclear technologies, including in the nuclear fuel cycle," both India and France are committed to "the highest standards of safety and security and in accordance with their respective nuclear policies and international obligations." The two sides also reaffirm their "common concerns and objectives in the field of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery including a view of possible linkages to terrorism."Kakodkar hopeful Later, interacting with the media, Dr. Kakodkar expressed the hope that "sooner [rather] than later" India and France would hammer out commercial agreements to operationalise the nuclear agreement, though he thought there were "no serious impediments" in India's Atomic Energy Act.

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