India to sign nuclear deal with Belgium

Chennai, Nov 10 (IANS) India will sign a nuclear technology deal with Belgium Tuesday during the visit of the country's king and queen to the Tamil Nadu capital, said sources in the department of atomic energy.

The deal will be signed in the southern city of Chennai, about 80 km north of the nuclear power stations in Kalpakkam, which is also the campus of the Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research (IGCAR).

Officials from the Tata Memorial Centre hospital and the Apollo group of hospitals along with several other major cancer research institutes in India which need and use nuclear technology will be participating in the memorandum signing ceremonies between the two countries, the sources said.

King Albert II and Queen Paola are on a 10-day state visit during which economic and academic relationship agreements with India are being inked.

The king is accompanied by Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht and high-level business and academic delegations, including chiefs of Belgian companies and top officials of universities of the European nation.