India and Canada sign civilian nuclear deal

TORONTO: India concluded an agreement with Canada here on Sunday, the Agreement for Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, to enable civil nuclear commerce between the countries. Canada is the ninth nation to enter into such an agreement with India, after India obtained its crucial waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group in 2008.

The other eight are the US, Russia, France, the UK, Argentina, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. This agreement proved to be the high point of India’s bilateral engagement with the host nation of the G20 summit at Toronto, as prime ministers Manmohan Singh and Stephen Harper elevated relations between their respective nations to a new level of cordiality.

Canada had been one of India’s earliest nuclear collaborators but broke off cooperation in the wake of the 1974 Pokhran test, India’s first demonstration of mastery over nuclear technology.

India and Canada also signed memoranda of understanding on higher education, earth sciences and mining and on cultural cooperation. Dr Singh and Mr Harper welcomed the identification of significant economic benefits by a joint study group on the viability of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement.

In his statement at the joint press conference by the two leaders, Dr Singh laid particular emphasis on the energy partnership entered into by the two nations, focusing on alternative and renewable energies and on energy efficiency.

The two prime ministers recalled the anniversary of the downing of the Air India plane, Kanishka, 25 years ago by a terrorist bomb on June 23. Dr Singh emphasised the need for all countries to work to eliminate the scourge of terror, in a gentle reminder of Canada’s deemed omissions on reining in pro-Khalistan activists in that country.

He emphasised that such activists constituted a tiny fringe while the majority of the Sikhs living in Canada had goodwill for India and wanted the ties between their adopted home and India to improve. He said Mr Harper fully understands India’s concerns on the subject.

At the joint press conference by the two leaders, Dr Singh allayed concerns that any nuclear material or technology that India obtains under its civil nuclear cooperation agreements with other countries would find its way into a weapons programme. India had stringent control mechanisms in place, including on exports, to preclude any such eventuality.

Mr Harper welcomed India’s commitment to fight climate change, by bringing down by over a fifth the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of domestic output (the emission intensity of growth) and promised to make Canada’s expertise in that area available to help India deliver on that promise.