| Canada ready to sell nuclear reactors to India |
| Posted on 13-09-2012 | 10:43:45 IST | DY365 Bureau |
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New Delhi: Having said no for long, Canada has now expressed its desire to sell nuclear reactors to India. A leading English daily reported Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird as saying, "We have turned the page with India. India is a very different country today." Baird, who is currently visiting New Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart SM Krishna, said Canada values and welcomes Indian investment in natural resources and energy. Of late, Canada has come to be known as energy superpower, on the back of a thriving economy. Canadian Prime Minister M Stephen Harper is also due to visit India in November for summit talks. India and Canada had inked a nuclear deal in 2010 but the same has not been operationalised as there has been no finalisation of end-user agreement. Krishna yesterday said after talks with his Canadian counterpart that India was hoping for the early completion of talks on Appropriate Arrangements for the bilateral Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement signed in 2010. Fast-tracking implementation of the nuclear deal was among a cluster of bilateral issues the two ministers discussed that also included intensification of economic and energy ties and counter-terror cooperation between the two countries. "There are no issues that are holding it up. It's an important milestone in our relations. These are a matter of details and we look forward to an early completion of these arrangements," Krishna said when asked whether there were any issues that were coming in the way of implementing the nuclear agreement. In an important clarification, Canada stressed that it was not insisting on any additional conditionalities for supplying uranium to India. "We certainly have no additional concerns. The administrative procedures and details take some time, but we look forward to a successful conclusion of these agreements," said Baird, who began his five-day trip to India on Sunday. |
