India, France to strike nuclear pact

Few hours after getting US Congress’ clearance with two-thirds majority on the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday took off the flight to France in a happy mood for striking another nuclear agreement on similar lines with France.

A step behind from making history, the pact will now roll over to the Senate, probably on Monday, for its approval that will be followed by the final signature to be inked by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee during her visit to India in the first week of October.

On board the special aircraft Prime Minister Singh Sunday said, “I am glad that one hurdle has been crossed but it is not the end of the Congressional process and we need to wait for the final outcome.”

Dr. Singh also expressed hope that the nuclear deal would likely to be signed with French President Nicolas Sarkozy during his two-day visit. Allaying doubt over the time period too short to make such a crucial pact, he said India and France had initialled a framework agreement for civil nuclear cooperation in January but could not sign it pending a waiver from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Now after getting the approval on the India specific safeguard from the IAEA and NSG waiver, it requires only a review and thus a possible signature is likely to take place in Paris on October 30.

France is the world leader in nuclear energy that provides it 40 cent of its energy needs and 80 per cent of its electricity in both competitive and eco-friendly conditions.

Prior to the bilateral talks, the two leaders will meet on Monday in the coastal town of Marseille for the ninth India-EU summit as France is the current chair of the 27-nation European body.

Singh and Sarkozy will hold talks in Paris on Tuesday on a wide range of bilateral issues comprising civil nuclear cooperation, defence, space and business.

Manmohan Singh will also participate in the India-EU Business Forum organised by MEDEF, the French Association of Enterprises. Both India and EU will also announce a detailed framework for cooperation in the areas of Peace and Security. The last India-EU convention was held in New Delhi in 2007.