N-Powered India Signs Landmark Agreement On Civil Nuclear Cooperation With France
Written on 8:12 PM by Reethi
France has officially become India's first nuclear trade partner, after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and French President Nicholas Sarkozy signed on the dotted line on Tuesday, ending India's 34-year nuclear isolation.
France becomes the first Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) country to formalise its intention of entering into civilian nuclear cooperation with India as the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal is still awaiting US Congressional approval. The agreement, though, is not a 100 per cent win for India. India will not get access to top end French reprocessing technology.
Although it has taken its first step in the nuclear mainstream, India still needs to sign the IAEA safeguards agreement, separate its civilian and military reactors , complete negotiations on an additional protocol with the IAEA and amend its own laws to allow private participation in the nuclear field. Source said that this could take anything from a year to two years.
