India and Canada sign civil nuclear deal

TORONTO, June 28 (UPI) -- India and Canada have signed an agreement for nuclear energy cooperation, the prime ministers of both countries announced.

The agreement comes 36 years after Canada placed sanctions on India after it exploded an atomic device using materials from a Canadian-made nuclear reactor.

India maintained that nuclear material or equipment supplied to the country wouldn't be used for "any unintended purpose."

"Nuclear material supplied to India will be fully safeguarded in terms of agreement signed with International Atomic Energy Agency. We have (a) fool-proof system of export controls," Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters Sunday in a news conference with his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper after the two leaders signed the agreement.

The agreement makes Canada the ninth civil nuclear energy partner for India. Other partners include the United States, France, Russia and Kazakhstan.

The agreement covers cooperation in areas including design, construction and maintenance; the sharing of operating experience and decommissioning of nuclear reactors; the supply of uranium; projects in third countries, as well as the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear waste management.

Singh said the agreement "breaks new ground in the history of our cooperation in this sector.

"It reflects the change in international realities and will open new doors for mutually beneficial cooperation in nuclear energy," he said.

Calling the agreement "a symbol" of the relationship between the two countries, Harper said Canada couldn't live in the past, alluding to India's test explosions.

Harper referred to India as a "powerhouse that is going to play a very important role in the world."

Both leaders said they were committed to the ratification of the agreement and to completing all remaining steps necessary to ensure its early implementation.

Speaking to Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, Chaitanyamoy Ganguly, a former official from the International Atomic Energy Agency and now president of the Indian branch of Canadian uranium giant Cameco, said the deal was a important opportunity for Canada.

Ganguly predicted expansion for Cameco India, with Canada likely to soon begin exporting 2,000 tons of uranium a year to India.

Currently the sole employee of Cameco India, Ganguly said Canada has an advantage in the Indian market because many of India's nuclear reactors are based on Canadian deuterium-uranium reactor technology.

Last September, India announced it aims to boost its nuclear energy capacity by 12,000 percent by 2050. The country plans to have 12 new nuclear reactors running by 2020.

In related news, the first round of talks between Japan and India began Monday with the aim of creating a similar bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation.