India and Canada have reached a landmark agreement on civil nuclear cooperation after months of hectic negotiations, paving the way for supply of Canadian atomic technology, equipment and uranium to New Delhi, after a gap of 34 years.
The negotiations on the nuclear deal were concluded at a meeting between prime minister Manmohan Singh and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper here on the margins of Commonwealth Summit, with the two leaders describing the development as a "milestone" opening up "tremendous opportunity" for their countries.
"The civil nuclear agreement is a very important step forward, a milestone for the development of our relationship," Singh said.
Canada, which is the world's largest producer of uranium, has become the eighth country with which India has reached a civil nuclear agreement, since the NSG lifted a 34-year-old ban on New Delhi to join global nuclear trade in September last year.
The other countries with which India has already signed the civil nuclear deal are the US, France, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Argentina and Namibia.
"We have now got an agreement, which means this is a tremendous opportunity for both countries," Harper said after the negotiations were firmed up.
The Canadian prime minister was in New Delhi on November 17 when the two countries had announced that they were working to complete the civil nuclear deal.
Pointing out that the civil nuclear agreement with Canada was hanging for sometime, Singh said Harper "proved to be absolutely true to his words" as he had said the negotiations should be completed in a short period of eight to ten days.
"I thank the prime minister (Harper) from the core of my heart for having expedited this process beyond my expectations. It augurs extremely well for the development of our relations," Singh said.
Singh said "we have discussed ways and means of expanding the content of our relationship, to widen it and to deepen it in every possible way."
He said India's needs for nuclear energy "are enormous" and it requires a lot more energy to make its development process a success.
Harper pointed out he had discussed the civil nuclear agreement issue with Singh when he was in Delhi earlier this month. "The prime minister and I agreed that it should be brought to a conclusion very rapidly," he said.
Harper said "increased collaboration with India's civil nuclear energy market will allow Canadian companies to benefit from greater access to one of the world's largest and fastest expanding economies".
The agreement will allow Canadian firms to export and import controlled nuclear material, equipment and technology to and from India, a statement issued by Harper's office said.
"We will be seeking a little bit of time to complete the normal legal text and the ratification process. But this is a tremendous step forward in our relationship," Harper said.
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