India/US/France

India welcomed out of nuclear isolation

Article published on the 2008-10-02 Latest update 2008-10-02 14:10 TU

Sarkozy and Singh at the Elysée.
(Photo: Reuters)

India signed two key nuclear co-operation deals with France and the United States this week. More than 30 years after its first nuclear test, and the resulting international nuclear trade embargo, India can now purchase new nuclear power technology to fuel its booming economy.

The US Senate approved a wide-ranging nuclear agreement with India on Thursday, and President Bush said he looks forward to signing the bill into law. The deal gives India access to US nuclear power technology in exchange for UN inspections of civilian nuclear facilities.

“This surely will be mutually rewarding, both for India and the international community,” Anand  Sharma, India's Minister of State for External Affairs, told RFI.

Pakistan, India’s neighbour and the world’s only nuclear-armed Islamic nation, said it now expects the US to sign a similar deal with it.

India is one of the few countries in the world which has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, an international agreement which aims to limit the spread of nuclear weapons by sharing civilian nuclear technology. India continues to refuse to sign because it claims that the treaty would hinder its ability to test and develop its own nuclear arsenal.

After India detonated its first nuclear bomb in 1974, the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group imposed a ban on trading nuclear technology with it. That ban was lifted in September, opening the way for this week’s agreements.

New nuclear technology could help India reduce demand for oil and gas, and allow the emerging economic giant to develop with fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

In Paris on Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed the first deal with French President Nicolas Sarkozy that paves the way for French nuclear exports. French industrial nuclear giant Areva said it hopes to sell two nuclear reactors to the country.

“We have a fairly-well developed civilian nuclear program, and with the understanding reached with the United States, with France and hopefully in the near future with other major countries … we’ll be able to augment, substantially, the energy generation from nuclear sources,” Sharma says.

India currently has 22 operational nuclear reactors, and plans to build 16 more in the coming years. Economic forcasts estimate that India has a nuclear market worth 100 billion euros over the next 15 years.

The deals didn’t pass without protest in the US and France. US Senators who opposed the deal argued that it rewards India for breaking international rules, and would encourage Iran and North Korea to follow suit.