A civil nuclear cooperation pact likely to be signed soon between India & U.K.

A civil nuclear cooperation pact likely to be signed soon between India & U.K.

A civil nuclear cooperation pact is expected to be sealed between India and the U.K. in near future, as both the nations have agreed upon its text. The date for finalizing the deal is yet to be decided.

The matter was attended by Peter Mandelson, the British Business Secretary; and Anand Sharma, the Union Commerce and Industry Minister of India, who is the visiting guest to London.

Mr. Sharma is heading the Indian delegation at the Joint Economic Trade Committee’s (JETCO) meeting held between UK and India.

The talks in the preliminary round of the agreement pertaining to the text from the Indian side were started by M.K. Narayanan, the erstwhile National Security Adviser.

Once this treaty is signed, it will add to become the 7th civil nuclear pact to be concluded by India. The very first civil nuclear agreement was signed with the United States in the month of October 2008.

Following this, India concluded agreements with Russia, Kazakhstan, France, Mongolia, Namibia and Argentina.

A civil nuclear cooperation pact has already been finalized between India and Canada to be sealed in the coming year.

The UK is considered to be among the largest supporters of India after making a re-entry in the arena of international nuclear trade following the India-U.S. joint statement released in 2005.

One of the areas of discontent during the deal was the introductory part of the draft, in which India raised an objection against the words suggested by the U.K. pointing out to its stance related to fissile material cut-off pact.

India wanted the agreement to convey its official stand, which should in essence have global appeal along with being non-discriminatory and objective.

According to reports, the nuclear industry of Britain exports nuclear products and equipments which are more than £700 million in terms of value. The industry can make a supply of about 70 to 80% of a new nuclear reactor’s parts.

Mr. Sharma and Lord Mandelson had a discussion on the issues related to food and drink sector. India is considered the biggest market for whisky in the world. Every year, 90 million containers are sold here.

The U.K. also showed interest in widening its reach in the banking sector of India with looking for expansion, especially during the time when Indian banks like ICICI and the State Bank of India were seeing significant expansion in Britain.

The issue related to intellectual property was also taken up during the discussions.

According to Lord Mandelson, finding approval on the text of agreement was a “very, very significant” step.

He said “We’ve got an agreed text on civil nuclear cooperation. This is a very, very significant advance. I look forward that text being signed off at ministerial level before long”.

He added that both the countries are now ready to work in close cooperation in the areas of defence.

It was also said “India wants collaboration in defence manufacture and supply and we have our own units who are keen to collaborate with India particularly in R&D. This is an area where business-to-business collaboration between the two countries can take place”.

Mr. Sharma referred to the discussions as “very productive”. He told “We have focused on manufacturing and innovation and a number of other areas. Britain has high-tech, and India is ready to absorb it — particularly training across the industry for skills to meet global shortage.”

The Hindu

February 5, 2010